A Recruitment to Remember

“If you don’t know how to speak in front of people, [Speech] a great place to learn. If you already love talking to people, it’s a great way to improve,” said senior Sam Seering.

On November 11, the Duluth Speech Team made a day-long presentation in the Little Theater to recruit students, and all English classes were invited. As classes filed every hour between speeches, East and Denfeld students performed onstage with East senior Sam Seering acting as the MC.

Although the Speech team now has 13 East members, advisor Mrs. Lofald claims that the activity is still obscure. “Everyone knows soccer or baseball, but no one knows what Minnesota High School League Speech is.”

Each performance contained a video of Denfeld seniors Hanna Durfee and Brian Johnson in their first place winning performance of “Anna and August” in the duo category at the national speech competition where the pair took third place overall. The skit talks about a nerd and her romantic relationship with a childhood acquaintance.

“We picked this skit, because it’s such a universal theme. Everyone goes through the awkward stage,” said Durfee.

Skits performed live included a speech on the US healthcare system by senior Kai Fei, testimony of a war nurse by junior Anna Menzel, “Dodgeball” by senior Ryan Gallagher, an argument against meaningless praise, a comedic sketch called “The Midlife Crisis of Dionysus” by sophomore Garrett Maron, and more.

“I liked how ‘Dodgeball’ was informal, and thought that ‘Dionysus’ was very well delivered with all the voice changes between characters,” said junior Kara Schultz.

Already, the presentations are inspiring students.

“I’m thinking of joining now, because I thought it was encouraging to see people step out of their shells and really learn public speaking skills. It seems an excellent outlet,” said junior Jordan Bissel.

The speech team visited Central on November 12 and Denfeld on November 13.

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