Midway’s Molly Zechman helped Valdosta State University win first place at the 2017 Georgia Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention’s inaugural Praxis Bowl.
Zechman was one of five graduate students from the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders — Amanda Barlow, Melanie Morris Hyde,

Patricia Sumner and April Ward were the other four — representing VSU in the Praxis Bowl. Using clickers to answer multiple-choice questions, the VSU team competed against teams from the University of Georgia, Georgia State University, and the University of West Georgia.
“The questions were similar to those that are found on the Praxis examination, which is the exam that a future speech-language pathologist must take and pass before being allowed to practice as a professional,” said Dr. Matthew Carter, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders and a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist.

“Teams scored points for answering questions correctly, and VSU answered more questions correctly than anyone else. Every member of the VSU team had their praxis registration fee waived, which is $120 per person, so that was a nice addition to the recognition they received.”
During the three-day Georgia Speech-Language-Hearing Association Convention, Barlow, Hyde, Sumner, Ward and Zechman were able to expand their knowledge base by listening to national, state, and local experts from the speech-language pathology, audiology, occupational therapy, and assistive technology fields.

They were also able to network with educators and professionals in their chosen career field and learn about the latest research being conducted by students at colleges and universities around the state.
Zechman, 23, earned a Bachelor of Science in Education in communication disorders in May 2016 and anticipates graduating with a Master of

Education in communication disorders in December. She is an alumna of the Delta Theta chapter of Alpha Delta Pi, where she served as president, executive vice president, and finance vice president and received the 2016 Dorothy Shaw Scholarship. She was named Outstanding Greek President of the Year in 2016. She is a member of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and a former junior representative on the College Panhellenic Council. She is the daughter of Paul and Marleen Zechman.