My day off after Easter this year was eventful for me.

I had made arrangements with Audrey Burke at Richmond High School to visit her dual credit speech class. I had been trying diligently to make this happen for more than a year.

Burke and I became acquainted through two different graduate-level courses, Identity and Difference and Social Media and Communication. We took those classes through Indiana University.

Speaking of IU, Burke’s speech class is dual credit through IU’s Advance College Project program, and the course is Public Speaking-P155. Advanced Speech and Communication at Seymour High School is a dual credit class through Ivy Tech Community College. The class is an equivalent to Ivy Tech’s Fundamentals of Public Speaking-COMM 101. Both classes at RHS and here locally at SHS are one semester.

According to an IU source from the 2013-14 academic year, here is the course description for P155: Prepares students in the liberal arts to communicate effectively with public audiences. Emphasizes oral communication as practiced in public contexts: How to advance reasoned claims in public, how to adapt public oral presentations to particular audiences, how to listen to, interpret and evaluate public discourse and how to formulate a clear response.

Here is the course description for Ivy Tech’s COMM 101: Introduces fundamental concepts and skills for effective public speaking, including audience analysis, outlining, research, delivery, critical listening and evaluation, presentational aids and use of appropriate technology.

While I was observing Burke’s students during her class, I noticed she informed them about their seventh quiz of the semester. My students recently completed their fourth quiz of the semester. They also were preparing for their fourth speech of Semester 2. My students will start their third speech soon.

Like at Seymour High School, students at Richmond have corporation-issued Chromebooks. RHS is around 300 for its Class of 2022, and we’re around 339. Interestingly, Burke was not the only Audrey in the class. The other Audrey, a student in her class, asked Burke about me, and Burke let me tell her students a little about me and how we became acquainted.

Upon telling them I am an assistant baseball coach for the Owls, I discovered there were two baseball players for the Red Devils (yes, just like our opponent from the Hoosier Hills Conference, Jeffersonville) in the class. We will participate in the Bob Haustetter Classic next month at Richmond’s McBride Stadium, so I told the boys I would see them again in late May.

As if this trip wasn’t already special enough, there is more to my story. My mother, Debbie Garoffolo Perry, graduated from Richmond High School in 1956. In addition, I was born in Richmond 10 years later.

I won’t call this next part special. I’ll call it unfortunate. I woke up to snow April 18, and once it finally stopped, they had received about 3 inches.

As a final thought, I want the reader to be cognizant of the plethora of dual credit opportunities at Seymour High School. SHS offers up to 116 college credits. My colleagues and I are dedicated to our profession, and Seymour High School is a special place.

Our mission is based upon these words: Seymour High School provides students with an Opportunity to develop the skills necessary to attain Wisdom, to appreciate Learning and to experience Success in an ever-changing, global society.”

I am about to wrap up my ninth year at SHS and my 32nd overall. Thanks for reading.

Who will? Owls will.

Tim Perry is an English and speech teacher at Seymour High School. Send comments to [email protected].