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Glenbrook North speech competitors place at state
Updated: March 22, 2013 7:05AM
NORTHBROOK — Three Glenbrook North High School students returned from Peoria last weekend thrilled with their performances at the Illinois High School Association speech finals, after the school has not sent competitors for years.
Amanda Mawrence, a 17-year-old senior, placed third in the state in the dramatic interpretation category with her presentation of a girl with autism.
“I fought the line between being very authentic and offending people, and received pretty good comments from the judges,” she said.
Ryan Wagner, an 18-year-old senior, took eighth place in the oratorical declamation category. “I fell in love with it immediately because its so fun and acting-focused, which is an activity I enjoy.”
The IHSA competition is a huge array of events all focusing on different skill sets, said Wagner. The main idea is competitive public speaking with the top six ranking as finalists.
Benji Englander, a 16-year-old junior who came in 12th in the informative speaking category, noted that he loves politics and broadcast journalism, so participating in events like this will help him make a career choice.
Sarah Ilie, a social studies teacher in her third year as coach of the students, added she was excited they had accomplished so much in such a short period.
The IHSA event consisted of 15 categories: dramatic duet acting, dramatic interpretation, extemporaneous speaking, humorous duet acting, humorous interpretation, impromptu speaking, informative speaking, oratorical declamation, original comedy, original oratory, performance in the round, poetry reading, prose reading, radio speaking and special occasion speaking.
