It is no secret that speech is one graduation credit dreaded by many high school students. Luckily for the LHS student body, a semester-long dual enrollment speech class is being introduced next school year. Dual enrollment classes give high school students the opportunity to earn high school and college credits simultaneously. Earning a college speech credit in the personable and encouraging environment that LHS offers is certainly hard to discredit — no matter how much one may fear public speaking.
LHS speech teacher and Statesman adviser Katie Kroeze will teach the new dual enrollment speech class starting next fall. Dual enrollment speech offers an exciting opportunity for students with all levels of public speaking experience — in fact, students can register for the class even if they have previously taken a speech class in the Sioux Falls School District (SFSD). Kroeze cites this class as an opportunity to be a step ahead in one’s college education.
“Students who are planning on attending a college or university will need to take speech as a general course,” said Kroeze. “Dual credit speech allows those students to take speech in high school and be ahead of their peers in college by receiving speech credit. [Students] can check one general course off their list of coursework in college and focus on their other generals or specific classes for their major.”
LHS junior Evelyn Osterloo is registered for dual credit speech next semester and can speak firsthand on the benefits of taking dual enrollment classes at LHS.
“I am finishing teacher pathway (a USD dual credit class) this semester and that class definitely was a factor in my decision [to take dual enrollment speech] because of how enjoyable and straightforward it is,” said Osterloo. “I’m excited to be able to fulfill a college general ed. requirement through an in-person class at Lincoln and get support from an in-person instructor. This class will have a much smaller class size than most college speech classes which helps quell some people’s fear of public speaking.”
It is important to keep in mind that there are requirements in order to be eligible for dual enrollment classes in the SFSD. Interested seniors must earn an ACT composite score of 21, or rank in the upper one-half of their graduating class, or earn a cumulative GPA of at least 3.25 on a 4.0 scale. The eligibility requirements are slightly more demanding for juniors; they must earn an ACT composite score of 24, or rank in the upper one-third of their graduating class, or earn a cumulative GPA of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. Another important note on this exciting new opportunity: students will have to purchase the credits (and possibly course materials), but these expenses are significantly less than what students would find themselves paying when registered for an equivalent class at a college or university. Plus, there are scholarships available for LHS students who may struggle paying for these items.
Kroeze encourages any interested students to talk to their respective counselor. Consider taking dual enrollment speech next fall to maximize your time and prepare yourself for the structure of college classes.
“Dual credit speech is a great opportunity for students at LHS,” said Kroeze. “We already have the requirement to complete speech [in order to graduate], so why not get credit for college also? We have so many talented, smart students at LHS, so this course will be a great addition to all the other wonderful classes that are offered here.”