center for public speaking: summer at the center

Student Resources

Links

Extemp Resources

LD Resources

Additional Resources

July 10-24, 2005
Macalester College

Why Summer at the Center?

Our Focus on Education

The Center was founded in 2002 as a partnership between high school coaches and educators in order to provide students with the tools to achieve excellence through speech. Today, the founders and staff of the Center are dedicated to teaching students basic principles and advanced skills to improve their performances. Our curriculum has been reviewed by numerous educators to ensure our students receive the most rigorous and comprehensive knowledge, background, and skills for their craft. Where possible, our institute follows college textbooks and students learn from a staff that is dedicated to education.

Our Focus on Success

Unlike other institutes that use any warm body to instruct students, we carefully select the best-of-the-best from only the high school speech circuit. Our staff is comprised of high school coaches who are successful at major national caliber tournaments such as the National Forensic League and National Catholic Forensic League tournaments. Our strategy is to bring together the most successful coaches to assist the most promising students to become champions. In addition, the Center employs several former high school competitors who consistently serve as judges at the nation�s largest and most prestigious tournaments to provide our students with real-life experience with competition scenarios. These former competitors know what it takes to make the difference between a semifinal and a final round performance. CPS students have already been crowned champions of tournaments across the nation.

Our Focus on Innovation

Graduates of the Center�s summer program don�t just come away with two extra weeks of practice. Center students are challenged to take their performances to new heights instead of simply mimicking the success of last year�s competitors. Extempers and Orators investigate new methods of organization, types of evidence, and delivery styles. Interpers search out new methods of cutting, new material, and characterizations. Center staff are also innovators on the high school speech circuit. Our instructors pioneer new strategies and lead the fight to change rules at the NFL and NCFL level.

Our Focus on Value

The first CPS summer institute was the least expensive institute of all residential summer programs in the country. Today, CPS ensures that every single student receives full value for their tuition. All instructors are available to all students especially within each of the divisional structures. Each student returns home with lecture notes, handouts, textbooks, cuttings, files, and critiques from our staff and guest judges. As one of the highest priorities, CPS curriculum, lectures, and lab schedules are all reviewed several times to ensure the most value for students. Students will find that our schedule gives them very little free time. We attempt to provide students with a semester�s worth of work into fourteen days and fifteen nights. However, we do understand that students do need to rest. We have scheduled several supervised free-time events throughout the institute to give students a chance to relax and get to know one an another.

Our Focus on YOU!

Personalized attention, guaranteed 1:6 staff to student ratio, and fantastic facilities are just the beginning. Every aspect of the Center is dedicated to ensuring that you not only get the most for your money but the best time while you are here. No effort is spared� come see the CPS difference!