Speech is an extracurricular club at PCM High School where students choose events to compete in. Speech is coached by Janice Davis and Brooke Grett, but very student-led. In speech students decide what events they want to do and meet up with others who are also interested in the same category. Students usually meet once or twice a week based on what they decide works best in their schedules, speech is a very flexible club but also requires lots of dedication. Participants usually base what they are going to do on past musicals, plays, movies, songs, radio recordings, and books. Sometimes students like to get creative and write their own scripts. There is also an event called group improv where students are required to make their performance on the spot. The choices of large group speech are choral reading, ensemble acting, group improvisation, group mime, musical theatre, one-act play, radio broadcasting, readers theatre, short film, solo mime, and television newscasting. All students are allowed to participate in two categories. To advance to state students have to receive a score of one. If they continue from state, they would go to an all-state competition. Saturday, January 25, was the day of the large group contest. The teams got loaded up on the bus by 6:30 a.m. and left to go to South Tama High School to perform. The first performance from PCM started at 8:30 a.m. and the last performance ended around 2:30 p.m..This year 10 groups performed. Three musical theater, three ensemble acting, one readers theater, one group improv, and one radio broadcasting group. The groups that got a score of one and moving on to state are Skippyjon Jones, Group Improv, The Greatest Showman, RELL, 4 Months, and Lock-down. The groups that got a two are Mean Girls, Six, and Aladdin.
Following shortly after the whole group contest, the solo contest comes soon. Solos typically have the same entries as large groups. The entries for individual speech are Acting, After-Dinner Speaking, Expository Address, Solo Improvisation, Interpretive Reading- Poetry and Prose, Literary Program, Original Oratory, Public Address, Radio News Announcing, Reviewing, Solo Musical Theater, Spontaneous Speaking, and Storytelling. The solo district contest is on March 1. Currently, the speech team doesn’t have official individual entries, but many students are looking forward to practicing and competing individually.
Congratulations to our groups for making it state. The groups include Skippyjon Jones with Brighton Ingle, Luke Ferneding, Zach Richards, and Konnor Bell, Group Improv with Konnor Bell, Zach Richards, and Kylie Lewis, The Greatest Showmen with Caedmon Burkett and Carter Dudley, RELL with London Ludwick, Rylan Edgington, Liz Egland, and Emma Leedom, 4 Months with Kylie Lewis and Keira Stone, and finally Lock-down with Grace Taylor and Carter Dudley.
