© 2024 WNIJ and WNIU
Northern Public Radio
801 N 1st St.
DeKalb, IL 60115
815-753-9000
Northern Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The art of forensics and public speaking, even for introverts | Teachers' Lounge Podcast

Greg Solomon
Greg Solomon

On a brand-new Teachers’ Lounge Podcast, English teacher and forensics coach Greg Solomon.

Forensics, if you’re unaware, in this case does not mean that he’s teaching high school students how to sleuth around a crime scene searching for clues. No, forensics is competitive speech and drama. You can think of it sort of like Track and Field, but for talking! There are a series of events like persuasive speech, informative, drama, comedy, debate!

Greg started doing forensics 40 years ago in high school, and now has been coaching forensics at DeKalb High School for 30 years. Public speaking is hard, even for a podcast host! But effective and comfortable communication is a great life skill. He talks us through how he teaches kids to competitively speak and debate, even as a bit of an introvert himself!

If you’ve never listened to Teachers’ Lounge before, our show is based on an idea -- we’ve all had teachers in our lives who shaped who we are. And we want to hear about the teachers who inspired you or deserve a spotlight in your community. Every educator we have on this podcast, whether teacher, coach, counselor or professor, is nominated by our listeners.

So, tell us about the person who comes to your mind. Shoot us an email and nominate an educator at teacherslounge@niu.edu and they could be on the podcast! And please subscribe to our Teachers' Lounge newsletter right here where you can stay up to speed on the show and share stories you think we should cover!

Also, Teachers’ Lounge is on the radio! Catch the show as an hour-long radio program every month LIVE on 89-5 FM and streaming at WNIJ.org. We have multiple guests, stories, and exclusive segments. Our next episode airs on Friday, February 24th at 11 a.m. Tune in on the last Friday of the month at the same time for future episodes.

SHOW NOTES

Educator in this episode: Greg Solomon

Story featured in this episode:

'Only two of them made it to school': when half of an elementary school has no bus, the community takes action.

15 years later, moment of reflection honors 5 NIU students killed in mass shooting

Music: Our show's theme music is from the northern Illinois-based band "Kindoves" and their songs "Popn," "Origins" and "Quiche." You can find more of their music on their Soundcloud page. You can also listen to the episode of WNIJ's own Sessions from Studio A where they were featured.

Teachers! People who know teachers! People with stories about teachers! Send us an email and be part of the show! Also, send us your topic recommendations: teacherslounge@niu.edu

Peter joins WNIJ as a graduate of North Central College. He is a native of Sandwich, Illinois.