About Prairie State College's Speech Camp

The Prairie State College Summer Speech Camp has been helping South Suburban high school students prepare for their competitive speech season since 1998. Each student chooses one event to prepare and polish over the course of the two-week camp. Students work with experienced coach instructors. At PSC, we are proud to maintain a 1:5 coach to student ratio.

PSC Speech Camp Staff
At Prairie State, we are proud to work with many area high school coaches, former and current Prairie State College competitors, and successful high school and college competitors to bring quality instruction to our campers.

Instructional Materials
In addition to working on an event for Fall competition, each student will leave camp with a host of supplemental materials including lecture and event handouts. Students are encouraged to share their materials with other students on their teams.

Tuition Cost
This year’s cost is $300.00 per student for the two-week camp. Students may opt to attend only Week 1 for $150.00, but may not attend Week 2 only. With either option, the full amount is due by the start date of camp (Monday, July 10, 2023).

For schools that enroll 10 or more students, there may be a small discount available to each student from that school. Please contact Joshua Green or Dana Trunnell about this discount.

In addition, there may be a limited number of partial scholarships available. In order to be considered for a partial scholarship, students must send a letter to the camp directors demonstrating financial need and interest in the speech team. In addition, the student’s coach should send a letter of support to the camp directors.

Tom Sweeney Scholarship:
The Tom Sweeney Scholarship is named after Tom Sweeney, who was a coach at Homewood- Flossmoor High School. It was Sweeney’s tireless efforts that led to the establishment of the Summer Speech Camp and the scholarship named in his honor was developed to help students who would like to attend camp but may need some financial assistance. In order to be considered for a partial or full scholarship, students must send a letter to the camp directors demonstrating financial need and interest in the speech team. In addition, the student’s coach should send a letter of support to the camp directors.

Follow Us on Social Media
For updates including photos during and after camp, Like and Follow us on Facebook

Help Send High School Students in Need to Camp!
The Prairie State College Foundation provides over $125,000 in tuition and book scholarships to PSC students each year. The Foundation also provides funding to enhance opportunities for students to make the very most of their college experience. The Prairie State College Summer Speech Camp in partnership with the Foundation offers the Tom Sweeney Scholarship, which provides partial tuition scholarships to attend camp for a limited number of students with financial need.

If you would like to contribute to this fund, your donation will be deeply appreciated. You may contact Joshua Green or Dana Trunnell about making a donation, or contact the PSC Foundation directly at (708)709-3631 or PSCFoundation@prairiestate.edu and specify that your contribution is for the Tom Sweeney Scholarship Fund. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. Your gift may be tax deductible; please consult your tax advisor.

Thank you for considering a gift to benefit high school students as they pursue their interest in public speaking and performance excellence.