Walpole High’s Speech Team continues to grow in members as the year goes on. On Saturday, December 14 they competed at the Holly Speech Festival at Natick High School.While no members of the team made it to a final round, there were several new members that were competing for the first time, with only five veterans returning to the team from last year.
Last weekend’s meet was one of the largest in the state; while no members of Walpole high’s team came home with a trophy, the team leader, Ms. Emily Loflin, said “They did pretty well, although no one made it to a final round. Two students were in a category with 70 students in it and they placed in the 30’s and for me that is great. As I always say to them just the fact that you are doing this and gaining confidence and improving your public speaking skills is great, because not everybody gets a trophy.”
The events that each competitor was in are very different. For example, Drama Audition allows the students to memorize a script from one author and the act itself must be serious in nature but the student can insert some humor into the act. The student must do this without any props or costumes. Prose Reading, however, requires students to use a manuscript and use their voice and facial expressions to create characters and a narrator.
Sophomore Matt Moriarty competed in the competition of Drama Audition, which resembles the act of going through an audition, and placed 9th out of 16. Sophomore Tori Lynch competed for the first time in Group Discussion and placed 31st out of 46. Junior Kianna Kaizer competed in Novice Reading and placed 16th. Junior Catriona Garry competed in two events: Impromptu and Prose Reading. Garry placed 36th out of 76 in Impromptu, but the results for Prose Reading have not been released from the Mass Forensics League website.
Loflin said, “I am just excited that the group is growing and students are bringing their friends to meetings and getting them involved and most of the students this year are novices . Just having the team grow more will help the team become more successful. It is not always about winning.”
The team’s next meet is on January 11 in Newton South High School, a meet that is smaller than the Holly Speech Festival but will provide a good amount of competition. Loflin said, “Many students will place and hopefully make it to a final round. This meet is going to be the biggest event for us this year.”
