For the first time in many years, Wahlert students participated in the Iowa High School Speech Association competition. Individuals prepared for and competed in several events, including solo musical, poetry, solo monologue and spontaneous speaking.

This resurrection of speech has proven to be an overwhelming success for competitors. Mimi Ottavi, ‘16, Aidan McSperrin, Emily Meinert and Rachel Hefel, ‘17, all received the top rating from the judges, all four advanced to state, and Ottavi and McSperrin were both nominated to perform at the All-State Speech program in April, the highest honor awarded to competitors.

McSperrin performed both a musical theater piece and an acting piece at the district and state speech competition. McSperrin said preparing for his musical theater piece “…was like preparing for any other performance or audition.”

To get ready for competition, McSperrin focused more on preparing his acting and making it realistic and believable.

“You can learn something from everyone,” McSperrin said. He spent extra time working with drama teacher Mr. Colin Muenster to improve the honesty of his performance.

Hefel also worked with Mr. Muenster once a week for the weeks leading up to the competition. When Hefel performed at the state speech competition, she received a 1 rating, despite making some errors.

“I totally messed up one of monologues,” Hefel said, “so I was really excited when I found out my score. The judges didn’t even notice my mistake.”

For the competitors, the speech competition allowed them to explore  material that they wouldn’t normally get to perform. It helped them work on performing as individuals instead of as part of a larger performance.

“My monologue was really dramatic,” Meinert said. “I got to really get into my character.”  

As the speech season wraps up, competitors can look back on an outstanding year, and hope that this re-emergence of the speech program will continue.