Coker College Semester at an End

A few minutes until there is a celebration/Holiday lunch to say good bye to the semester. One of the great things about working as a faculty member on a college campus is the ability to begin again in a new semester.

SPECIALTY SPEECHES
One of the highlights of the public speaking class (for the instructor) is the Specialty Speech, presented this year during the final exam period.
1 -- This speech directly relates to the use of public speaking skills in the students' real or imaginary lives.
2 -- It provides the opportunity for real fun or real-life speaking.

For example --
 a) one student was leaving the exam period to actually deliver the toast to her brother and his new bride later that afternoon.
b) another student, with a love of poetry, did a tribute to Poetry and the exhalted place it has in her life.
c) a golfer accepted the Green Jacket of the Masters and baseball player accepted a golf glove and one of the music majors accepted a grammy.  Fun stuff
d) had a really meaningful tribute to a mother by one of the students and lots more that made it a fun sort of assignment to review.

This testing period I also enjoyed having students pretend they were spokespeople for companies who were facing a crisis.  Admittedly, if it had been real some company lawyers would be scrambling right now but getting in front of a camera with a communication purpose is a good thing to have done, even if it becomes an aggravating part of a final exam.

Coker College Late Night Breakfast popular tradition

The night before reading day, which is the night of the last day of the semester, provides the setting for the Coker College Late Night Breakfast. It is a time when faculty, staff and others serve, sometimes cook, breakfast for the students. The students, in return, chow down like they have not eaten in weeks. Apparently you need energy for the last minute cramming. Reading Day, after all, is the day before finals.  It is a fun end to the semester.  Here are few photos.

Music Students Getting some solo time at Coker College

This Monday some of the voice and piano students at Coker College are going to be doing some end of semester solo performances. The concert is just one of many highlights of living on or near this dynamic liberal arts campus.  You can read more about the concert from SCNOW.com. You may also be surprised to read about a Hartsville-based program allowing high school students to participate in some accelerated learning opportunities in the arts on this college campus. It is an innovative and impressive program that gives unusual opportunities to high schoolers from both Hartsville High and the Governor's School for Science and Mathematics.