[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 160 (Tuesday, October 4, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1023-E1024]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING TRICIA NICESWANGER AS IOWAN OF THE WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CYNTHIA AXNE

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 4, 2022

  Mrs. AXNE. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in recognizing Trisha Niceswanger, a teacher 
and Speech & Debate coach at Atlantic High School, as our Iowan of the 
Week.
  Speech & Debate teams provide high school students with incredible 
skills that can be applied everywhere in the real world, like public 
speaking, speech writing, performance, and self-confidence. It also 
teaches students how to build perspective, prepare formal remarks, and 
think critically about how they portray themselves and their message. 
These life skills and abilities have never been more crucial than they 
are today, and it takes someone truly special to be able to 
successfully show our students what they are capable of. That is why, 
today, I am so proud to be honoring Trisha Niceswanger for her work and 
dedication as the Speech & Debate coach for Atlantic High School.
  Trisha has been at Atlantic High School for 8 years. She not only 
serves as the Speech & Debate coach, but she also serves Atlantic High 
School as a Spanish teacher. No matter the capacity she is working in, 
she is always finding ways to teach and inspire our future generations 
to realize their own potential. Trisha co-coaches the Speech & Debate 
team, with her primary focus being on coaching the Individual and Large 
Group Speech teams. This year, during the Individual Speech season, 28 
of Trisha's students received Division 1 ratings at the District Speech 
competition. This rating automatically advanced those students to the 
State Speech competition. Of those 28 students, 8 were freshmen. 
Ultimately, this year Trisha coached 3 students, I freshman and 2 
juniors, who were nominated for the All-State Speech competition taking

[[Page E1024]]

place on March 28th at the University of Northern Iowa.
  Trisha's clear leadership in her role as the Speech & Debate coach 
has not only produced outstanding results, but she's also notable 
because of the impact she makes on her students. Trisha participated in 
Speech & Debate when she was in high school, and it showed her that 
these competitions are much more than standing up and talking. She 
coaches her students through the performance of speech, and how every 
category within the competition caters to unique strengths we all have 
within us. Review or Spontaneous Speaking can be for students who 
thrive in analytical or argumentative settings, while Poetry or Prose 
allows students to tap into illustrations and emotions through words. 
Trisha helps guide these students to find the strengths they carry as 
people, and when students realize these strengths, she sees the impact 
it has on every one of them.
  Trisha says the most fulfilling aspect of the work she does is seeing 
students try something new and come out of their shell. Speech & Debate 
can be a daunting activity for students to try out. It puts the student 
in the spotlight, especially for Individual Speech, where students 
perform solo. But as Trisha helps her students find their voice in an 
area that sparks their passion, she sees them gain more and more 
confidence in themselves as she coaches them through a particular 
piece.
  The work Trisha does is not just about performing well at a 
competition. She genuinely cares about her students as people and wants 
to see them thrive after they graduate high school. Trisha teaches her 
students so much about themselves and the impact they can have on 
people using Speech & Debate. Her dedication to the students of her 
community is truly inspiring, and it is why I am honored to name Trisha 
Niceswanger as this week's Iowan of the Week.

                          ____________________