Thank you!

What a great season we've had! We have broken several of our records, even if it is a short history, it's still impressive. I don't know who all still checks this, but this post is an important one, so I hope a lot. I considered having a meeting to discuss this, but I know everyone is really busy right now.

I am so proud of all the hard work you've done this season and past seasons. Every week you amaze me with your talent and attitude. I am happy to refer to each of you as "my kids".

That being said, I am now moving on. In 7 1/2 months, I'll be having my own kid. Yup. I'm pregnant. And due in January. Thus, I have resigned as your Head Speech Coach. This was a difficult decision, but I know I won't be able to be a good coach and a good mom at the same time. Many coaches are capable of having children and coming right back in a few months or the next season, and I respect them. But I know I will not be able to be one of them.

To answer your question, no, I don't know who will replace me. There will be an interview process soon, I imagine. But, you have amazing captains and assistant coaches. You might not even notice I'm gone.

You've all touched my life in wonderful ways. I'm excited for the great things in your futures. You are a very talented bunch and I know we'll all be hearing great things from the Lakeville South Speech Team!!!!

State Results and Pictures

Wow! If you didn't come to the state tournament, you missed out. We had a great day! The results are as follows:
Dylan Slinger- CHAMPION, Extemp Speaking (the first in South history; congrats, D-Sling!)
Leema John- 8th, Extemp
Jeff Steinkamp- 8th, Storytelling
Adam Kunkel- 7th, Creative
Maddy Peton- 4th, Poetry

5 medals in a single year is amazing! I'm very proud. Enjoy highlight photos below, courtesy of Stacy Gore.

Junior Meeting

The junior speech team members (you know who you are) will be meeting on Tuesday, April 27th during Cougar time outside Heinis' room. Be there.

Help!

We need to get banquet invitations mailed out to your parents. Please come after school on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday to help address envelopes. Your kindness in volunteering will be rewarded...

State Schedule

And here's the schedule, which I found online:

2010 State Speech Contest Schedule
FRIDAY – CLASS AA

1:00 p.m.----------------------
Draw Supervisors and Readers Report Time
1:00 p.m.-----------------------
Registration Begins
1:00 p.m.-----------------------
Draw Supervisors and Readers Meeting - Tab Headquarters
1:15 p.m.----------------------
Room Managers Report Time
1:20 p.m.-----------------------
Room Managers Meeting
1:45 p.m.----------------------
Judges Report Time
2:00 p.m.-----------------------
Judges Meeting
2:00 p.m.-----------------------
Draws for Round 1 Begin
2:30 p.m.-----------------------
Start of Round 1 for all Events
3:30 p.m.-----------------------
Draws for Round 2 Begin
4:00 p.m.-----------------------
Start of Round 2 for all Events
5:00 p.m.-----------------------
Draws for Round 3 Begin
5:30 p.m.-----------------------
Start of Round 3 for all events
6:00 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.
Break for Dinner and Postings
7:15 p.m.-----------------------
Draws for Final Round Begin
7:45 p.m.-----------------------
Championship Finals for all Events
9:30 p.m.-----------------------
Awards Presentation

STATE!

We have 6 competitors going to State on Friday, April 23. If you would like to come along as a spectator, see me by Thursday, so I can get your name on the list. We'll be leaving school at about 10:15, having lunch somewhere, and round one will start at 2:00. I will excuse you from your classes. OR, you can drive down after school. State is at Gustavus in St. Peter.

IF YOU WANT TO RIDE THE BUS WITH US, YOU MUST TELL ME ASAP. We will not be returning until almost midnight, if not later :-).

Sections Results

WOW! I am so proud of you for the best sections performance EVER! We took second place, which is amazing. Our first section trophy. Here are the individual results:

Abbie Barrett-5th place, OO
William Boutwell-7th place, Storytelling
Luke Braun- 4th place, Creative Ex
Anna Doyle-6th place, Drama
Brittany Ebeling-5th place, Poetry
Madie Gore-3rd place, Creative Ex (headed to State)
Leema John-3rd place, Extemp Speaking (headed to State)
Adam Kunkel- 2nd place, Creative Ex (headed to State)
Grace O'Brien-6th place, Great Speeches
Maddy Peton-2nd place, Poetry (headed to State)
Hayden Rutan-4th place, Humorous
Anselmo Shim-5th place, Extemp Speaking
Dylan Slinger-2nd place, Extemp Speaking (headed to State)
Megan Sperl-7th place, Drama
Jeff Steinkamp-Champion, Storytelling (headed to State)

Sections Info

Posted only one day prior, because you were supposed to be a group practice to find all of this out. Alas, if you skipped, you still need the info.

1. Either come to school dressed up or change BEFORE we leave.
2. You will be dismissed at 12:00. This is part way through 4th hour. Don't eat lunch (unless you reeeeaaaalllly want to).
3. We're going to lunch at Applebee's, so bring $$$.
4. Bring $$ for dinner also (or pack a dinner; or bring your leftovers from Applebee's)a
5. We will be home past 11 most likely, but...
6. You MUST be in school on Friday morning. You'll live, I promise.

Interp Opportunity

I received the following email today. Looks like it could be pretty fun!

"My name is Laura Johnson and I am a speech coach at LNHS. I was emailing you in regards to a summer performing program I am working with. I was hoping you could let your wonderful speech students know about the audition on MAY 1st.

The Program is called The Peter Pan Project. The Garage youth center in Burnsville is sponsoring it and the performances will be taking place outside in their park this summer.

We will be casting 15 students ages 13-18. Using the classic story of Peter Pan students will work to create an original version of the fairytale.

I believe this will be a wonderful opportunity for speech students who love performing and creating their own work.

Please visit our website, peterpanproject.com

Thank you for your time,
Laura Johnson"

Sections Practice

The week of sections, we will have group practices on Monday (the 12th), Tuesday (the 13th), and Wednesday (the 14th). You MUST come to at least one of these practices, as information about sections will be shared. If you want extra practice, feel free to come to more than one day. All practice sessions are from 3-5. Your other coaches may ask you to also practice with them that week, which is fine. Discussion: you need to come at least for the information; after that, if you HAVEN'T had a practice discussion or research time that week, I can set you up.

NEW Section List

Only a few changes, but PLEASE review it to make sure it's accurate. If you drop from sections (after Thursday, April 8th), the drop fee is $40, as the sections registration is twice the cost.


Creative
1. Adam
2. Luke

Discussion
1. Meron
2. Kanchan
3. Hannah

Drama
1. Anna D.
2. Mallory
3. Meg S.

Duo
1. Lauren and Chelsea

Extemp
1. Dylan
2. Anselmo
3. Leema

Great Speeches
1. Grace
2. Kaitlyn
3. Evan

Humor
1. Hayden

Info
1. Megan J.
2. Audrey

OO
1. Abbie
2. Ashley S.
3. Ruthie

Poetry
1. Brittany
2. Maddy

Prose
1. Anna B.
2. Meagan S.

Storytelling
1. William
2. Jeffrey

Speech Contest

Gustavus Adolphus College is having an oratory contest for high school students at its Annual Peace Conference on Wednesday, April 28th. The question is "How would you create, nurture, and preserve peace in your community?" There is a 1,500 word limit. Registration is due April 15. Go to www.gustavus.edu/mayday and click on Oratory Contest Registration on the left. Oh, and the first prize is $750!

Three Things:

1. The banquet is Tuesday, May 4th at 5 PM. Put it on your calendar.
2. If you were NOT at the St Cloud tournament, please come to Heinis' room to vote for next year's captains.
3. I will be posting a NEW sections roster this week. Stay tuned. (Turns out there are more people in the musical than I originally thought, so I have to talk to Casperson again about who can and cannot miss.)

St. Cloud Tech Results

Hooray for a 2nd place finish at our last invitational of the year. Very well done, everyone. The drive was long, but the rewards were great.

Results:
Logan Halliday- Champion, Storytelling
McCall Halliday- 3rd place, Honors Creative Ex
Kanchan Hulasare-6th place, Discussion
Adam Kunkel- Champion, Creative Ex; 7th place, OO
Audrey Lane- 5th place, Honors Informative
Hayden Rutan- 5th place, Honors Humorous
Jack Ryan- 4th place, Extemp Speaking
Anselmo Shim- 6th place, Extemp Speaking
Dylan Slinger- Champion, Extemp Speaking; 2nd place, Impromptu
Meron Zeru- 7th place, Discussion; 6th place, Honors OO

Sections 2010

Here is the roster for Sections on Thursday, April 15th. If you have questions about it, please see me.

Creative
1. Adam
2. Luke

Discussion
1. Meron
2. Kanchan
3. Hannah

Drama
1. Anna D.
2. Mallory

Extemp
1. Dylan
2. Anselmo
3. Leema

Great Speeches
1. Grace
2. Kaitlyn
3. Evan

Humor
1. Hayden
2. Anesha

Info
1. Lisa
2. Megan J.
3. Audrey

OO
1. Abbie
2. Ashley S.
3. Ruthie

Poetry
1. Brittany
2. Lauren L.
3. Maddy

Prose
1. Anna B.
2. Meagan S.

Storytelling
1. William
2. Jeffrey

Captains 2011

We will be voting for next year's captains on the bus to St. Cloud. If you are NOT coming to St. Cloud, but would still like to cast a vote, please stop in my room after spring break. There are 18 of you not going to St. Cloud, so that is a significant number.

The juniors wishing to be captain will write a paragraph explaining why they would be a good captain. This will help you make your decision. We will have three captains next year.

See me with questions.

St Cloud Information

Our last invitational of the year...sad. St Cloud is the farthest we're traveling all year. It is the only tournament in the area, so no complaining. Many teams drive 2-3 hours one way EVERY week. The bus leaves at 6:15 AM. Be there with smiles on. See roster below:

Batz, Anna
Boutwell, William
Brand, Meredith
Brundrett, Chelsea
Doyle, Anna
Ebeling, Brittany
England-Sullivan, Christian
Ferrell, Kaitlin
Haakonson, Tess
Halliday, Logan
Halliday, McCall
Hulasare, Kanchan
Johnson, Danielle
Johnston, Megan
Jones, Anesha
Keller, Joan
Koch, Lauren
Kunkel, Adam
Lambrecht, Lauren
Lane, Audrey
Monsalve, Diego
Nelson, Ruthie
Pospisil, Jenica
Roberts, Mallory
Rutan, Hayden
Ryan, Jack
Schrafft, Meagan
Shim, Anselmo
Slinger, Dylan
Slinger, Samy
Sperl, Megan
Stiles, Maggie
Sweere, Lisa
Vivant, Taylor
Vold, Kate
Zeru, Meron

Northfield Results

Congrats on first place, team! Great job by everyone. We narrowly beat second place, showing really how one person makes the difference.

Results:
Abbie Barrett- Honorable Mention, OO; 5th place, Prose
Luke Braun- 3rd place, Creative Ex
Anna Doyle- 3rd place, Drama
Christian England-Sullivan- 6th place, Humorous
Madie Gore- 4th place, Creative Ex
Logan Halliday- Champion, Storytelling
Leema John- 5th place, Extemp Speaking
Danielle Johnson- 7th place, Storytelling
Anesha Jones- Honorable Mention, Humorous
Kaitlyn Kimmel- Honorable Mention, Great Speeches
Adam Kunkel- Honorable Mention, OO; 2nd place, Creative Ex
Evan Marian- 4th place, Great Speeches
Ruthie Nelson- 4th place, OO
Maddy Peton- 2nd place, Poetry
Mallory Roberts- 6th place, Drama
Jack Ryan- Champion, Extemp Speaking
Anselmo Shim- 2nd place, Extemp Speaking
Megan Sperl- Honorable Mention, Drama
Jeff Steinkamp- 2nd place, Storytelling
Meron Zeru- 4th place, Discussion

St Cloud Registration

Is due THIS FRIDAY. If you aren't coming and still need to let me know, please do so ASAP. After Friday, you'll have to pay the $20.

Also, if you are interested in doing either of their "extra" categories described below, let me know before Friday. They look both challenging and fun!

Creative DUO and Impromptu

Rationale: 1. Allows students to showcase their talent in a different venue, if they have already competed in post season tournaments.

2. Allows your students the opportunity to double enter at a tournament if they have never done so.

3. Presents Something FUN!!!! …. And NEW!!!!

Format: Each category will have three rounds and a final. The Creative Duo finalists will showcase their pieces in front of the entire audience prior to awards. A panel of three judges will judge the final round. Impromptu finals will occur during the regular final rounds.

Awards: Silver plates will be awarded for each event. These events will be included in Team Award points.

Rules for 1. Each speech can be up to 7 minutes in length.
CREATIVE DUO 2. The speech can be humorous or serious in nature.
3. Same MSHSL rules for Creative apply in regards to percentage of quoted material.
4. Duo partners cannot make eye contact or physically touch.
5. Speech must have an introduction.
6. One chair or stool can be used..
7. Singing is allowed.
8. Performers are allowed free movement.

Rules for 1. Each round will focus on a certain category.
IMPROMPTU Round 1: Quotations/Proverbs
Round 2: Infomercials
Round 3: Once upon a time……
Finals: Imaginary Scenarios



2. In the prelim rounds, students will draw right outside the speaking room, and then have a total of seven minutes of prep time and speaking time. They should try for 2 to 3 minutes of prep time and 3 to 4 minutes of speaking time. The final round will allow a half hour prep time with a seven minute speaking limit. Each draw will consist of three possibilities. Contestants will choose one and put the other two back. Just like MSHSL draw categories, for example, the student will draw three possible quotations and will decide which one he or she will perform and will put the other two back in the envelope.

ROUND DETAILS

Round 1: Quotations: These will be a mixture of serious and not-so-serious quotations and proverbs. The students will draw three, and decide which one he or she will use. They cannot have a note card, but they can use the slip of paper with the quotation/proverb on it.
Example: “I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.”
–Abraham Lincoln

Round 2: Infomercial: The students will draw an object out of a box, and they will try to “sell” the item as if it is on an infomercial….. “Billy Mays here with the fantastic……”

Round 3: “Once upon a time…”: They will have a phrase which will read… “Once upon a time there was a horse…” Or “Once upon a time I landed on the moon….” Or “Once upon a time I got in trouble for…”


Final Round: Imaginative Scenarios: Speakers will draw from three envelopes. The topics consist of a strange place, object, and catchphrase. Using these three things, they construct a story. An example of these things would be inside 1)Mount Rushmore, 2) a magic cowboy hat, and 3) “I may not be the best-looking guy in here, but I'm the only one that's talking to you." This is a fun, challenge because it requires creativity.

Northfield Info

We are headed to Northfield this Saturday, March 20. There is a return bus, so no worries. The bus will leave at 7:10, so be there at 7:05. Roster is below.

1. Armstrong, Shannon
2. Barrett, Abbie
3. Batz, Anna
4. Boutwell, William
5. Branch, Ashley
6. Brand, Meredith
7. Braun, Luke
8. Brundrett, Chelsea
9. Carson, Charlie
10. Doyle, Anna
11. Ebeling, Brittany
12. England-Sullivan, Christian
13. Ferrell, Kaitlin
14. Gore, Madeline
15. Haakonson, Tess
16. Halliday, Logan
17. Halliday, McCall
18. Heintze, Hannah
19. Hulasare, Kanchan
20. John, Leema
21. Johnson, Danielle
22. Jones, Anesha
23. Keller, Joan
24. Kimmel, Kaitlyn
25. Koch, Lauren
26. Kunkel, Adam
27. Lambrecht, Lauren
28. Lane, Audrey
29. Marian, Evan
30. Monsalve, Diego
31. Nelson, Ruthie
32. O'brien, Grace
33. Petersen, Kaya
34. Petersen, Tijen
35. Peton, Maddy
36. Pospisil, Jenica
37. Roberts, Mallory
38. Rutan, Hayden
39. Ryan, Jack
40. Schilz, Ashley
41. Schrafft, Meagan
42. Shim, Anselmo
43. Slinger, Samy
44. Sperl, Megan
45. Steinkamp, Jeff
46. Stiles, Maggie
47. Vivant, Taylor
48. Zeru, Meron