A large part of the human population has stage fright. For these people, one of their biggest fears is standing in front of a room of strangers and having to speak to them. For the Forensics team, the name for the combined forces of the FCHS Speech Team and Debate Team, this is a regular Thursday night.

On Nov. 16, members of the Forensics team traveled to Broadway High School to compete in a weeknight Shenandoah Valley Forensics League (ShenVaFL) competition. A total of 17 Flucos placed in the top four and qualified for the Tournament of Champions at James Madison University in January. Students competed against 225 other students from 18 other schools in 17 categories.

The following students from the Speech team placed in the top four in their category:

1st Samantha Carter, Storytelling
1st, Kessler Potter, Extemporaneous Speaking
1st, Amina Seiden, Original Oratory
1st, Madison Cavanaugh, Prose
1st, Townes Mullinex and Abby White, Serious Duo
1st, Madelyn Jamison (freshman), Dramatic Interpretation
2nd, Allison Monfalcone, Humorous Interpretation
2nd, Tomas Cruz Vega, Storytelling
2nd, Madison Gifford and Kyle Landes, Serious Duo
2nd, Emma Monfalcone and Annika Potter (eighth graders), Humorous Duo
3rd, Topher Huff and Ruby Godlewski, Humorous Duo
4th, Tori Owens, Original Oratory
4th, Laurance Orfini, Poetry

The Debate team also competed with three top-five finishes. These students placed top five in their category:

2nd – Emma Pittman and Kylie Phillips, Policy
5th – Zachary Butler and Ethan Dahl, Public Forum
5th – Cara Landsberg, Lincoln Douglas

Student Congress results have not been posted yet.

The next Forensics competition is Dec. 14 at Harrisonburg High School.