By Jordan Viegut
DCHS Speech, Drama and Debate advisor
Speech, Drama and Debate is sometimes referred to as ‘Forensics,’ which gives the impression of high school kids in navy blue CSI jackets at crime scenes with finger-printing powder and an assortment of evidence bags. That’s not quite us.
Speech, Drama and Debate is a combination of 17 different speaking performances, ranging from Humorous Solo to Informative Speaking to Lincoln Douglas Debate. At the divisional meet this year, our team qualified 14 students to state.
This two-day state competition is a gathering of the most practiced Class A speakers in the state, vying for a top spot in the ranks of their respective events. The anxiety can get to some students, and a stressful day of competition on Friday left a few of them clawing at the walls of their psyche (and hotel rooms). Our senior-heavy cohort of competitors, on the other hand, was dialed in. The term for the weekend was focus.
As our public forum debate team worked late Friday night on their cases, the hotel lobby clock thumped (digitally) over from p.m. to a.m. Our last day of competition had arrived.
The students loaded up their stuff onto the bus and Warren Pierce, ––– our People Relocation Engineer and No. 1 supporter of Speech, Drama and Debate ––– took us to our final competition of the 2016-2017 season. Our students competed with the confidence of having practiced for years, the composure of having performed at a high capacity and a clarity of focus.
The DCHS Speech, Drama and Debate results are as follows with the student’s name, followed by grade level, event and state performance:
Nathan Gentry: (9) Lincoln Douglas Debate, State competitor
Cheyenne Fisher: (12) Memorized Public Address, State competitor
Lauren Api: (10) Pantomime, State Semi-finalist
Connor James: (12) Extemporaneous Speaking, State Semi-finalist
Kailee Raine Dae: (12) Dramatic Oral Interp of Lit., State Semi-finalist
Kendra Zander: (12) Humorous Duo, State Semi-finalist
Kristy Cullinan: (12) Humorous Duo, State Semifinalist
Mason Hutchinson: (12) Impromptu Speaking, State Semi-finalist
Shelbi Kaul: (11) Humorous Solo, State finalist –– 8th place
Mac Haggerty: (12) Memorized Public Address, State finalist – 8th place
Cheyenne Damron: (12) Informative Speaking, State Finalist –– 3rd place
Shelby Dolch: (12) Memorized Public Address, State Finalist –– 2nd place
Katrielle Carney: (12) Public Forum Debate, State Champions
Natalie Temple: (12) Public Forum Debate, State Champions
Thank you to the 2016-2017 Speech, Drama and Debate team for all their hard work, positive energy and team support! Well done! I would also like to thank Whitney Pierce and Claire Mikeson for their efforts in preparing our team members for their competitions. Finally, I would like to thank all the community members who contributed to make the 2016 DCHS Invitational meet a success!