Yesterday, Abby and I got up at yet another ungodly early hour to head out for the forensics competition. Of course it was snowing in the morning and streets had not yet been cleared at that hour so getting to her school by 6:00 am to meet the bus for the ride to the competition was fun. On the upside, there's very little traffic that early in the morning on a Saturday.
This time it was to the Birch Run invitational, held at Birch Run High School and Elementary School.
A very well run tournament, they had enough time baked into the rounds so that judges could complete their evaluation sheets and get them back to the Tab room without having to race around like chickens with their heads cut off.
That was nice. I judged Sales, Impromptu, and 9/10 Poetry which surprisingly was not that bad, and far less angsty/angry than previous poetry sessions I've been stuck judging.
In Impromptu, 5 out of 6 competitors missed the point of the quote which was interesting and only 1 got it. Impromptu is hard - they have do an off-the-cuff speech on a quote they get to see only in the room and have 6 minutes total to prep and perform - it's a gutsy bunch of competitors.
Then for Semi-finals I got to judge Dramatic Interpretation, which was 90% dark and 10% comedy. Not too bad.
I then got a pass on judging finals so I went to watch the Duo finals, which is always a great one to see as the kids doing Duo performances have some serious acting chops.
Meanwhile, Abby advanced into the Semi-finals and then the Finals in Oratory.
At the awards ceremony when Oratory was called she went up and was not 6, 5, 4 nor third. We held our breath and then it was announced that she placed 2nd overall. This was a great result.
Her teammates did well too, with various top spots awarded or close seconds and thirds, with an exceptional sweep of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in 9/10 Impromptu which is pretty impressive.
Then the bus ride home and back in time for dinner. A long but very rewarding day.
3 comments:
I remember forensics competition when I was in school here in Michigan. I only did it for 2 years, but it was fun and helpful.
I did impromptu speaking, and also News Broadcasting, although that name doesn't sound right.
It sounds like you have a talented young lady on your hands. Great job for her, it is something she will remember her entire life.
pigpen51
pigpen51: Yes,its been a great experience for her and the kids aprticipating all tend to be really good kids. They call it Broadcasting now, and its fun to judge but more work than a typical category. Impromptu tends to be a hard category to compete in with no advance warning as to the topic and they have to go almost immediately once they get the quote.
That is great! Congrats to all for your 'performances'... :-)
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