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 On a Friday morning, about 100 children from across the nation stood in a circle at Western Kentucky University, clapping, chanting and dancing.

For onlookers, it might have been an unusual sight, considering they were attending a speech and debate camp, but that's the type of energy organizers have created at the Summer Forensic Institute over the years.

"When you're in other places, you have to be yourself and not act funny," said Holden Blair, a 13-year-old from Louisville. "Here, you can run free and act funny and do what you want to do." The camp is hosted by the WKU forensic team, which has won several national championships in speech and debate and has grown over the years. When Judy Woodring, former director of the forensic program, started the camp 21 years ago, about 30 children attended. Now, at 102 campers, the camp is the biggest it has ever been and two days were added to the schedule. Woodring will continue to work with the camp, even though she has retired from WKU.

"When I began this camp, I didn't know if anybody would come or not," she said.

Last week, the camp hosted students from seven different states, as far away as New York, and students from 29 cities in Kentucky.

While at camp, students learn about communication, take speech and debate classes, perform skits, tell stories, read poetry and take part in debates and other activities.

It's a project Woodring started when she came to WKU in 1989. Prior to that, she taught forensics at Union County High School for 20 years, building its speech and debate team into a national contender.

When she came to WKU, "I realized what a poor situation we had in the state of Kentucky," she said.

Many Kentucky students, especially those in the poorest areas, are not learning adequate speech and communications skills. Today, students from Kentucky still attend the camp at half the cost of tuition -- regular tuition is $650 for out-of-state students.

"Education can't be all about making money or you miss the boat," Woodring said. "We have to reach out to the Appalachian community. This is the highlight of their summer." Now, Woodring has started the Southern Kentucky Academy, which gives speech and debate training to students who don't have such programs in their schools. The program began in September and mainly consists of home-school students so far, according to a news release.

"I can't think of a single, solitary person as an adult that wouldn't use communication skills," she said. "I don't care if you live alone with your mother, you have to communicate with her." Woodring's passion for speech and debate began at an early age, when she was a shy, seventh-grade student. In an English class, Woodring nervously performed a speech and did not realize that she was doing well.

Afterward, her English teacher led her across the hall and introduced her to the high school forensic coach.

"When that lady took my hand and led me across the hallway in the seventh grade, that changed my life," she said.

That forensics coach ended up donating tens of thousands of dollars in stock shares to Woodring's high school forensic team, and Woodring read the eulogy at her funeral.

"She spent her entire life coaching and teaching forensics ... that's what good teachers do. You pass it on," Woodring said.

Last week, forensic instructors, coaches and national champions from different universities and members of the WKU forensics team passed on lessons to campers, who ranged from 8-year-olds to seniors in high school.

Alex Hawkins, a 12-year-old from Edmonson County, attended the camp shortly after winning a 4-H state competition, during which he performed a speech on anger management. He started competing in speech competitions when he was 9 years old.

"I heard about this speech thing, and I'd never done anything like it before," he said. "Ever since then, I've been hooked to it." Last week was his second year at the WKU camp, and he's noticed an improvement in his communication skills, he said.

"The camp is awesome," Hawkins said. "I've had a great experience with it. I'm going to come back, hopefully." To see more of the Daily News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bgdailynews.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Daily News, Bowling Green, Ky.