2019 Team Photo.jpg

CONTACT:  GREG TONEY, 646-1364 or gtoney@tctc.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                      4/15/2019

PENDLETON -- Two Tri-County Technical College business majors won first-place honors at the 2019 South Carolina Speech and Theater Association’s Annual College Festival Competition.

Jeighton Banning, a business major from Charleston, placed first in the Persuasive Speaking category and won third-place honors in the Informative Speaking category. Emma Nicholson, a business major from Seneca, won first place in the Informative Speaking category. Miriam Moss, a psychology major from Simpsonville, placed second in Oral Interpretation of Poetry.

The event was held April 13 on the campus of the University of South Carolina - Lancaster.

Colleges and universities that competed in this year’s festival included Newberry College, Claflin University, Lander University, University of South Carolina - Lancaster and Tri-County Technical College.

Tri-County was represented by four students in the competition.  Joining Banning, Nicholson and Moss on this year’s team was Grace Dufresne, a Media Arts Production major from Cincinnati, Ohio.  Each Tri-County Technical College team member advanced to the finals rounds of their respective events, eventually placing in several categories.

The Tri-County Technical College’s Speech and Drama Team is coached by instructors Greg Toney and Kim Harp.

           “We have been taking teams to this competition for more than 20 years. This is a great opportunity for students to develop important communications skills and do it in a competitive environment. Everyone worked hard and was deserving of his or her success,” said Toney.

           “My goal is to go to these competitions and be competitive,” said Toney. “It’s a challenge to compete every year against schools, such as Newberry College, Lander or USC - Lancaster, that actually have four-year programs in theater and speech. However, we always have success and this year it was no different as we dominated the categories that we participated in.”

The South Carolina Speech and Theatre Association is a professional organization that promotes the study of all areas of performance and oral communication: acting, oral interpretation/performance studies, theatre, broadcasting, public speaking, discussion and debate, and speech education. Its main purpose is the advancement of the total speech and theatre effort in the educational system of the state of South Carolina.

The 2020 SCSTA College Festival Competition will be held Saturday, February 15, 2020, at the University of South Carolina - Lancaster.

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