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Mary Alice Konz Welcome to Mary Alice Konz's site! |
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HAL English students all participate in a Fall Speech Festival that usually takes place in October. This speech festival supports the K.P.S. standard for public speaking: 8.3.2. For approximately three weeks prior to the festival, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders each prepare a speech according to the guidelines of the Nebraska School Activities Association. These events include humorous interpretation, dramatic interpretation, interpretation of poetry, informative, oratory, extemporaneous, entertainment, duet acting, or readers theater. All work for this speech festival is prepared during the regular classroom time. The performance night follows the format of a speech tournament, in which students dress up and perform their material in classrooms and are evaluated by judges. The highest ranking speeches in each section will advance to a final round. Awards will be presented. In addition, during the Spring HAL English students can choose to participate in a second speech tournament. This tournament is entirely voluntary, and practices take place after school until 4 p.m. on alternate days. _________________________________________________________________________________________ The following comments were compiled by HAL English students who were asked to write an essay about their speech experience. Selected excerpts are included here as a primer for new students entering the program, to know what to expect. "Speech night was so fun! It was definitely the high point of my week. At first I was very nervous, but after I got into my room, I eased back into cool. I know I have learned a ton of things from this experience. Probably the biggest thing was to edit my speech in the first week. Another thing I need to do is memorize my lines a little better. I had a little oops at the competition." -C.I. "I absolutely love speech. I get to have a whole room of people listening to me for ten minutes. How cool is that!" -T.V. "I wasn't nearly as nervous this year at Speech Night as I was last year. I think all of us were more confident than last time." -B.J. "As I waited in the cafeteria for the results, I saw my name on the list for individual interps champ finals. YAY! My mom was telling me how it doesn't matter if you win or lose as long as you touch somebody. When I did my speech a second time, I realized what my mom was talking about. After I was finished, I saw my dad and mom crying, and most of the people in the room, including my friends. Score!" -G.M. "I am much better going up in front of people now. I saw my name on the honors interp list of finalists. I was surprised. I did not expect to make it. I could tell the sixth graders worked hard on their speeches. There was one in honors with me. I was blown away by some people's speeches. They were dressed to kill. Everyone did an incredible job. They all deserved to get into finals. The high school judges did a very good job. They were fair." -L.M. "All of the boys congratulating each other made me feel awesome." -N.P. " I learned that if you pick a topic you are passionate about and that you really like, you will succeed. I think I did well because I got to write my speech so I could personalize it. I was entertainment, and I'm a pretty funny guy. I liked how there was more than one final, because more people got in and more people were happier. I learned that hard work does pay off, so work hard and be successful." -A.W. "It always makes me feel nervous, standing up, starting, stumbling, and finally stopping, all the while being judged. This experience has helped me be a better student and actor. When I saw my name up there on that sign, I was SO excited. Every year I go through all the emotions: excited, nervous, scared, relieved, happy, proud." -E.B. "I enjoyed hanging out with my friends and listening to and watching all of the great speeches. I want to go to another speech tournament soon, very soon. I learned to never underestimate myself or my competition." -R.S. "Many people stayed to watch finals, even if they didn't make it, to encourage their friends. I usually don't do very well at those kinds of things, so I was super excited when I saw my name on that list!. When I saw all of my friends' names on that list, I was so proud of them. I was proud of the whole school because we got the trophy again. I learned that a speech is one of those things that can't be prepared over one night. They take weeks to get them good. The speech night was awesome." -M.U. This Page was last update: Saturday, November 24, 2007 at 8:30:03 PM This site is using the Adult Contemporary (purple) theme.
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