Speech is in season and on Saturday, February 5, four groups of Saints were able to share their talents to a group of judges at State Speech at Kennedy High School.

A lot of work goes into preparing and putting together speeches. Speech is essentially “competitive drama,” where an ensemble or soloist performs an event for a group of judges. There are a variety of events that can be performed.

“There’s all kinds of things for any performer,” Improv and Radio coach, Jacob Hansen said. “If you prefer learning scripts, blocking, and singing, you may prefer events like Ensemble Acting, One-Act Play, and Musical Theater. If you still prefer having a script while performing, there are events such as Reader’s Theater and

Chorale Reading. If you don’t want to perform in front of a crowd, you’ll love events such as Radio News, TV News and Short Film. There’s plenty of events to choose from, and I feel that almost any student can find something they like.”

Students submitted video auditions for State Speech and selected which events they most wanted to perform in. After the audition, the coaches put studentsindifferentensembles based on their interests, and these groups rehearsed for six to eight weeks before competing.

“We usually practice twice a week, working on vocals, dialogue and choreography, all while having a ton of fun!” Musical Theater member Olivia Nasution said. “My favorite part of speech is just being able to get to know all the girls in

Cell Block better. I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of girls to work with!”

After competing at the Large Group District Contest on January 22, four groups were able to move onto Large Group State Speech. At this event, students had to perform in front of a judge to receive a rating: a I, II or III.

“My favorite memory of speech is when we went to Districts this year.” Musical TheatermemberEvieKunzsaid. “I got to know my fellow speech friends a lot more and we had a lot of fun hanging out and watching other groups. My group also did very well that day, so that made the day ten times better!”

At State Speech, three of the groups who moved on received a Division I rating, which were the Musical Theater Group, “Cell Block Tango” and Group Improv