By Shannon McGovern, Copy Editor
Prospect’s speech team will now be led by Head Coach Michael Piccoli. Piccoli has coached speech at Prospect for the past four years, but this will be his first year as head coach. 
Piccoli will be working alongside three assistant coaches this year: Jeremy Morton, Kit Fitzgerald and Heidi Graham. He is extremely excited to see how the coaching staff this year will impact the students. 
One thing Piccoli wants his students to know about him is that they should never be afraid to contact him whenever he is needed. He is very approachable and loves to get involved with the students’ lives.
“At the end of the day, I’m here for the students,” Piccoli said. “What matters the most is what the team members are getting out of it and what they want. If they feel like they’re not, I hope that they will talk to me so we can make it happen.”
Speech has always been a big part of Piccoli’s life. He only hopes that he can make his passion the students’ passion too.
“The position was open for this year, and I jumped at the chance to take it,” Piccoli said. “Spending countless hours, coaching kids, and going to national tournaments has been such a big part of my life so this seemed like the perfect next step for me and the team.”
One of Piccoli’s biggest goals for the speech team this season is to focus on building a team environment. He finds it very easy for speech to become an individual sport, but he would like to see this change by getting the team to support one another through watching one another’s events.
He is very excited to start the season in November, and is very happy to see that there have been a few more new members added to the team. Piccoli is very optimistic about the upcoming season and is honored to become the new head coach.
“There is so much energy and talent on the speech team that it’s really just a joy to spend time with them and watch them grow as performers and see the impact their words can have on people,” Piccoli said.