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Oral Interp 2021

by guest writer Kristina Luczak

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “All the great speakers were bad speakers first.” That is so true! To be a good speaker, you need to practice- and that is exactly what the Oral Interp team does- practice their pieces over and over again.

Oral Interpretation is a competitive speech competition where students pick a piece out one of five solo categories- Serious, Humorous, Poetry, Storytelling, or Non-Original Oratory. Students can also team up and learn a Duet piece or a Readers Theater, which consists of groups with three or more students. They practice the pieces and learn to tell the story using only their voices and their bodies. No props, no costumes, just them. Often, they must be more than one character during their piece or must show different emotions.

Our Oral Interp team does not compete very many times. We have three guaranteed competitions each season, two of which all members can participate in, the third, Districts the team can only take one piece per category to. This year, we took a piece to districts from every category except Readers Theater. Of those, four of the six are advancing to regions, and the other two are alternates from our District for Regions. If anyone makes it past regions, they will compete in the State Festival the first weekend in December.

Our team has a variety of pieces this year. There are pieces that make us laugh, and pieces that make us reflect on who we are. There are pieces that are kind of creepy, and pieces that give us hope. Each member of the team has put so much time into their piece, picking it, cutting it so it is the right length, and practicing it repeatedly so that they know it by heart, and not only speak it, but perform it in a way that draws the audience in. Throughout our season, our team has gotten numerous awards, and has shown in measurable growth throughout the season.

At our competition in Wolsey, Aaron Castonguay and Sara Jessen placed first in Duets, Eric Ames placed 2nd in Humorous, Sara Jessen placed 3rd in Non-Original Oratory, and Aaron Castonguay placed 3rd in Poetry. At Brookings Fall Festival, Danikla Moore (Serious) and Madeline Nye (Storytelling) earned an Excellent ranking. Alana Howard and Aubrey DeHaai (Duet) earned an Excellent Plus ranking. Taylor Wetz (Serious), Sara Jessen (Non-Original Oratory), and Eric Ames (Humorous) earned Superior rankings. Alana Howard (Serious), Aaron Castonguay (Poetry), and Sara Jessen and Aaron Castonguay (Duet) earned a 1st Superior ranking.

This year, our team had the following pieces

“Salutatorian’s Gratitude” by Bobby Keniston, performed by Eric Ames*

“Darkest Moments” by Pete Malicki, performed by Taylor Wetz

“Multiple Personality Murder” by Deborah Karczewski, performed by Danikla Moore

“A Small, Simple Kindness” by Bradley Walton, performed by Alana Howard*

“Human: What Makes Me Real” a compilation of poems, performed by Aaron Castonguay*~

“What Six Years in Captivity Taught me About Fear and Faith” by Ingrid Betancourt, performed by Sara Jessen*~

“Sounds Like” by Pat Morgan, performed by Alana Howard and Aubrey DeHaai

“The Proposal” by David Burton, performed by Sara Jessen and Aaron Castonguay*~

“The Spell Begins to Break” from the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, performed by Madeline Nye*~

Indicates a District Qualifier*

Indicates a Region Qualifier~

Oral Interp is a great activity and has a flexible practice schedule. You don’t have to be a great speaker to be a part of Oral Interp, and we are always looking for new members! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Ms. Luczak!




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