After school Friday, December 13, P-CEP Speaks gathered in the Canton High School Little Theater for its second annual Vital Voices Night. This event is open to any P-CEP student or club to come and speak about anything they choose.
Current president of the club, Canton Senior Hannah Thomas, said the president prior to her “really wanted to do something with the community, and then we all just supported her and helped implement it.”
P-CEP Speaks, also known as Forensics, is an organization designed for students to train and compete in various categories of public speaking. To kick off the competitive season, the team hosts an event for all students at the Park called Vital Voices.
“We understand that before the tournament season, a lot of kids are new to this, so they have speech anxiety or stage fright. We want them to be more comfortable speaking to an audience, and that’s really why we have Vital Voices night,” Thomas said. “But also we thought it would be a fun community bonding event, because people from other clubs are also free to join, although not a lot of people participate from other clubs.”
“We’ve had participation from the Black Student Union and from the Asian American Pacific Club,” coach of the Forensics team and Canton teacher Peggy Morelli said. “I would like to do whatever I can to facilitate these students who have clear and important interest in this world, and give them a platform in which to speak in front of a crowd.”
For this event, students first choose a topic of interest to them and the board approves it before the students write the speech. During the meetings leading up to the event, students practice their speech in front of the other participants.
Throughout the performances at Vital Voices, Morelli listens and writes feedback. “Good feedback, constructive criticism, and compliments help us grow,” she said. “The goal is to build our confidence with constructive feedback but compliments, so that we can get up there and realize nobody’s perfect. You fake it till you make it, and this time is better than last time.”
Forensics can be beneficial to both a student’s high school career and life after high school. Current University of Michigan Honors freshman, and staff reporter of the Michigan Daily Sarah Palushi said forensics prepared her for collegiate demands. “It helped me a lot when it came time for college essays. It felt like something I’d already seen before, because I had to write so many speeches throughout my forensics career.”
Brigid Reidy, a Canton sophomore new to the club, shared her reason for joining. “I think for high school and for future careers, public speaking skills are just good to have. You need them. You need to be able to talk to people and talk to a crowd.”
When President Thomas was a freshman, there were four members in the club, including herself. “I think my initial goal was to increase participation,” she said. “I think that was our main campaign, just telling people about it. And people were interested.” The club now has over 35 members.
With the team’s growth, Morelli has aspirations. “Hopefully, if we’re lucky, we do another Vital Voices in the spring. We want to allow group leaders to prove that their voices as students are just as vital, and let them give a platform on which to be heard. Because the most important thing is that we all stand together, find our voices, and do the good we can in this world.”
P-CEP Speaks meets in Canton room 221 at 2:30 pm on Tuesdays biweekly throughout the first semester, then every Tuesday throughout second semester.
![Canton senior Lourdes Stokes represents the Black Student Union Dance team. “It’s a club where people can embrace Black culture and dance,” Stokes said. "[The annual BSU show] is to showcase everyone's talents." Sept. 17, 2024.](https://the-perspective.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/IMG_2546-800x1200.jpg)