On January 12, at the Waubonsie Valley High School tournament in Aurora, the Oak Forest Speech team had some distinguished results. Junior Annais Gangolf won the tournament in Oratorical Declamation. Meanwhile, senior Alyssa Ryan and junior Olivia Earll placed 5th in Dramatic Duet Acting. Alyssa also made the final round in Dramatic Interpretation.

The Speech team has a number of competitive speakers and actors, including some juniors and seniors who could be considered veterans. Speech, for those who are unfamiliar, is a set of 14 separate speaking and acting events. How does one describe those events? It’s difficult to summarize, but some Speech events are humorous, some are dramatic, some are rehearsed, some are extemporaneous, some are solo, and some are performed with a partner.

The team has one more regular tournament (January 26 at Eisenhower High School) as it prepares for the IHSA state series. Regionals will be on February 2 (also at Eisenhower).