Paige Dobbins wins first place at speech competition

2013 Apr 30

Paige Dobbins of Canton, OH won first place and $1000 for her speech titled "Removal of the Penny from Circulation" at the Annual School of Communication Speech Competition on April 23. Dobbins is a freshman Anthropology student at The University of Akron.

The students delivered their speeches to a crowd of about 300 in the Grand Ball Room of the Martin Center in Akron. Dobbins was one of five speakers selected from 100 contestants in a preliminary contest one week earlier at UA.

Sponsored by Pearson Learning Solutions, the School of Communication, and the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC), the judges were Nikki Hawk, Marketing Director for the Akron Beacon Journal/Ohio.com; Jeff Kinzbach, Talk Show Host for 97.5 WONE; Jeff Goldman, Vice President of Sales for Pearson Learning Solutions; and Russ Pry, County of Summit Executive. Dr. John Zipp, Associate Dean of Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences, was Master of Ceremonies.

"These are five very talented students who are all great speakers," said Bonnie Keiper, who coordinates the General Education Speech Program at UA and organized the event. "It was a memorable evening."