Week of February 10-14

Imagine choosing to speak in front of others for fun or for competition. Some would run in terror from that idea while others embrace it. For those who embrace it, the competitive speech team is for them. This year’s co-op competitive team is off to a great start. 

Their season starts in January with practices and their first meet is one they host! Every year, on the first weekend of February, the team hosts 20+ schools for a meet. This year's event was held at Minot North and went off without a hitch. 23 schools and over 200 students filled the halls and classrooms with students competing in events such as Speech to Persuade or Inform, Impromptu, Radio, and Oral Interpretation. 14 events make up the competitive speech competitions and students are able to qualify for state at these events. Minot’s team sent 5 students to state already with the first meet and everyone on the team received an award for placing in the top eight of their categories.

When asked “Why Speech?” Abigail Hoffer, a sophomore, said that speech allows her to “speak to my heart’s content. I am in Entertain and I am able to write about what I like.” Also, Hoffer discusses how competitive speech is great because of the opportunity to meet new people. 

The excitement of state qualifying is another great opportunity for students. A senior, Ashlyn Brockhoff, who state qualified in Serious Prose at the first meet of the season discusses how “it was the best feeling in the world” because “my friends were there and I worked hard for it. There was good competition for it.” 

As for the rest of the team, they will continue to qualify throughout the season as they head closer to state in April. The next competition is Saturday, February 15th at South Prairie.