The Fluco Speech team is turning up the heat as they approach the second, more competitive half of their season.
Speech is a form of interpretive acting that only requires one or two people. A speech “piece” consists of lines and motions that somewhat mimic a one-man play. Directed by Speech Coach Craig Edgerton, the team has about 20 members who participate in a total of ten categories ranging from Humorous, to Dramatic, to even political and more professional topics.
“Speech is nice because it’s just like theater, except you get to do your own thing for the most part. You aren’t very dependent on other people,” said senior Speech Team Captain Ruby Goldlewski.
The competitions are less typical than one might think, as instead of performing a piece in front of an audience of fans and parents, the only people watching each piece at a time are the two judges and other competitors. As a result, there are only about eight people total observing each round. It’s a year-long season, with three competitions in the fall, one in the winter, and three in the spring. The Speech Team seasons picks up around January, as the spring competitions consist of Regionals, Super Regionals, and States.
“The speech competition format is interesting and different to what I’m used to. But I think that it’s served us well as a team, and I’m getting used to it as the season goes on,” remarked 8th-grade team member William Dusenberry.
The Speech team is already off to a splendid start to their season, with three competitions bringing many top-three placings. Four pieces placed in the top three in the last competition. On Jan. 24, the team will attend the Tournament of Champions (TOC) at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, which will include every team member qualified to compete in the previous competitions. After TOC, the team will move on to Regionals, where the top three in each category will move on to Super Regionals. After that, the top three from the Supers advance to States, which will take place sometime in April. In order to win States, each competitor needs to place in the top three to get a certain number of points. The team with the most points wins.
The standout Speech athletes so far this season include the following: senior Ruby Godlewski, junior Nicholas Culbertson, sophomore Annika Potter, and 8th graders Mickey Comer and William Dusenberry.
