Speech and Debate Students Place at Soddy-Daisy

On Saturday, Sept. 26, the West High Speech and Debate Team headed to Soddy-Daisy, where they competed in the Small Time Sweepstakes. The Morristown-Hamblen Speech & Debate team won first place in Small Team Sweepstakes; six of the eight entries were finalists in their event. 

Individual awards include: 

Ashby Mihalko & Briley Finchum (6th place, Duo Interpretation)

Max Doane (5th place, Original Oratory)

Emma Harville (4th place, Informative Speaking) 

Kadyn Mitchell & Kara Toby (4th place, Duet Acting)

Claire Wyke (3rd place, Informative Speaking)

Cherry Collins & Anthony Walters (1st place, Duet Acting)

To prepare for competition, students in acting and interpretation events read a variety of scripts and chose one they connected with. They then cut it down to a cohesive 10-minute performance and worked on characterization, blocking (stage movement), and delivery to bring the piece to life. Students competing in speech events first decided whether they wanted to focus on persuasive or informational speaking. From there, they narrowed down a topic, conducted research, and turned their ideas into a 10-minute speech. Students then spent time practicing, getting feedback, and refining both their content and delivery. 

  The debate team is a combined group of students from both Morristown-East and Morristown-West that is led by Mrs. Gabrielle Wexler. They will be hosting a competition at East High on November 7, and will have two more competition opportunities this semester--at Science Hill on November 21 and at Dobyns Bennett on December 5. Students interested in volunteering at the invitational or otherwise getting involved with the team should contact wexlerg@hcboe.net. If you see any of these students, remember to congratulate them on a job well done this weekend!