By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Cape Elizabeth High School speech team went from near extinction to state champions this year.

The Capers won the state title Jan. 30 at the University of Maine in Orono. It was Cape’s first speech championship since 1995.

“I felt we had a good chance at it, but I didn’t feel overconfident,” said team member Brendan Stewart, a 17-year-old junior.

 “It’s a pretty big deal,” said sophomore William McCarthy, 16. “We’re all pretty excited about it.”

Cape’s team members competed in several speaking categories: Liz Briggs (extemporaneous); McCarthy (original oratory); Kelsey Krull (original works) and Steven Savio (poetry) were all individual winners.

“They are the best team in the state because they competed against schools of all sizes,” said coach Richard Mullen, who led the team to 10 consecutive state titles from 1985 to 1995. Competition is not based on school enrollment.

Mullen, 74, has taught English, theater, speech and debate at the high school for 35 years. He stopped coaching the speech team after the 1995 season before returning as coach last fall.

During the 2007-2008 school year only five students participated in the speech program and the school seriously considered dropping it due to a lack of interest.

But Mullen stepped in and persuaded school officials to give the program another chance. Mullen agreed to volunteer and assist coach Lisa Melanson during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Mullen and Melanson, an English teacher assigned to the high school’s achievement center, recruited enough students to make the speech team viable and competitive last year. 

Together, they were able to boost the team’s membership to 35 boys and girls. 

“We yanked victory from the jaws of defeat,” Mullen said. “We started building it and the students flocked to it. The interest was here all along. It just hadn’t been tapped.”

This year Mullen and Melanson switched roles. Mullen took over as coach and Melanson was his volunteer assistant. With the numbers problem solved, the team faced another obstacle: money. 

Before the season started, the team lost its $6,000 subsidy when the school budget was cut. 

Spurred by Mullen’s encouragement, parents and students raised $3,000 by selling refreshments and redeeming soda bottles. The team also made money by holding a live speech team performance at the high school and collecting voluntary donations from the audience. Mullen also secured a $3,000 grant from the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation.

“I think it was essential that Richard stepped back in because of his entrepreneurial skills and his resourcefulness,” Melanson said. “There’s been a constant attempt on Richard’s part to garner funds on the fly.”

Mullen said he hopes the school will find a way to sustain the speech team.

“It’s very important academically for the school to have this kind of co-curricular program,” he said.

What’s the best thing about being on the speech team? 

“The best part about it is that we really get to meet a lot of different people and learn how to interact with them correctly,” said Krull, a 16-year old junior.

“I have a relatively big mouth,” joked senior Tom Campbell, 18. “I like to say a lot of things. To have a program where people listen to what I have to say makes me kind of excited.”

Rick Wright can be reached at 282-4337, ext 237 or news@inthesentry.com.