Berning enjoying time with speech team

The Minneota Speech team hired a new assistant coach recently.
Nicole Berning, who grew up in Litchfield, MN, was named to replace longtime assistant Amanda Engels, who resigned after last season.
Berning attended college at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall and majored in Communication Arts and Literature Education.
She currently teaches Language Arts for eighth and ninth graders, as well as Introduction Speech classes for seventh and eighth graders at Minneota.
Berning heard about the opening for an assistant speech coach through internal applications.
"I was involved in speech throughout middle school, but not in high school," she said. "I enjoyed being a part of the speech team in sixth through eighth grade, but didn't have the opportunity to compete at the high school level."
While attending SMSU, Berning enrolled in a debate course and a class that taught various categories of high school speech and how to teach public speaking skills.
"Those were two of my favorite classes," she noted.
Berning is enjoying working with the Minneota Speech team students.
"I enjoy watching students practice and improve on their speeches," she said. "It has been a great experience learning more about students and their passions outside of the English classroom.
"I strongly believe that when students join the Speech team, their writing, research, and public speaking skills improve as well. It's a great opportunity for all students."
Minneota has a smaller team than last season, but the team members have been improving as the season progresses under head coach Kim Gades, a two-time Section Coach of the Year, and now assistant coach Berning.
"Nicole has been a great addition and is very encouraging to the kids," said Gades.