Students from the Fair Grove Speech team competed in districts at Parkview on Friday, March 27th. The team left the school at 1:50 pm and arrived at Parkview shortly after. Competitors could participate in the following categories: Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry, Prose, Radio Speaking & Original Oratory, US Extemporaneous Speaking, Storytelling, and Duet Acting.
“It wasn’t too hard to practice my piece. I’ve been doing theatre my whole life, so memorizing just comes naturally,” says Dylan Appleton, a junior who competed in Dramatic Interpretation. “One thing I struggle with is what to do with my hands. I’ve never been very good at it.”
Performances at Districts were rated from below average to superior. Each performer received a rating (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.), depending on how many people competed in a specific category.
Maren Gillet, a senior who participated in US Extemporaneous Speaking, analyzes her performance, “It was an off day for me. Extemp is definitely not for everybody. Could I have performed better? Probably. Do I regret what I did? Not at all.” Maren placed 6th in her category.
“The tournament Friday was our last one for the year,” says Jamie Dekard, the head of the Speech department. “… and we had our first ever Speech Team Banquet on Sunday to celebrate and wrap up the year.” At the Speech banquet, students received medals for their hard work, and performed their pieces to all who attended.
Overall, there were seven people who competed at Districts. These include: Ozzy Carpenter (Poetry), Mitchell Johnson (Prose), Gus Irvine (Radio Speaking & Original Oratory), Maren Gillet (US Extemporaneous Speaking), Mikalie Woody (Duet Acting), Dylan Appleton (Dramatic Interpretation), and Courtney Deeds (Storytelling & Duet Acting).