Mount Vernon has 74 students out for speech this year, up from last year’s numbers.
Large group head speech coach Grant Freeman said that was due in part to a large ninth grade team.
“I think our ninth-grade team has shown a tremendous drive and passion this year,” Freeman said. “It’s great to have such a connected group of students.”
Freeman said that he and Tawnua Tenley (co-coach) have been working since September to help find scripts and pieces, especially for large group.
“As I see some other speech teams that are still struggling to find pieces in December, I’m blessed that we did that prep work in September,” Freeman said. “Each year brings its own struggles and stresses when it comes to speech.”
The Mount Vernon team will attend the WaMac Conference large group speech meet Tuesday, Jan. 17, and then districts at Monticello Saturday, Jan. 21. State meet will be at Cedar Rapids-Washington Saturday, Feb. 4.
There will be a speech showcase held in Mount Vernon Saturday, Feb. 11, for groups that reach the All-State Festival. The All-State Large Group Speech Festival will be Saturday, Feb. 18, at Iowa State University in Ames.
Mount Vernon will also be seeking volunteers from the community to assist when they host the district individual speech meet Saturday, Feb. 25.
“We are looking for people to be room chairs, timers, run concession stands, serve as hall monitors,” Freeman said. “Please contact Tawnua Tenley at ([email protected]) as soon as possible if you’re able to help.”
State individual speech contest will be Saturday, March 11, at North Scott High School in Eldridge. All-State Individual Speech contest will be Monday, March 27 at University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.
Freeman said there are many promising groups for Mount Vernon this speech season.
“We have a full load (first time ever) of six improvisation teams,” Freeman said. “In terms of pieces, both of the choral readings are pretty important, one dealing with LGBTQ issues called ‘We Bleed Red, Too’ and the other dealing with how the Speech Program can save a life called ‘The Assassination of Hope.’ And then our TV News Team is pretty special. They’ve been really engaged the whole time working extremely hard. It’s called Meg(an) Meg, about a news team that forgot to set their watches back after daylight savings.”
Freeman said his hopes and goals for the team are “to provide an outlet for students to explore their own voices, identities and dreams using theatre as the catalyst.
“On a personal level, I would like to get every student to State in at least one of their two groups,” Freeman said.
Also, the teams will have a student from Solon Schools who will be part of the teams at Mount Vernon in Large Group and individual speech this season.
“After conversations between Solon, the state speech office and Mount Vernon administrators, we were able to help out and add this student because Solon doesn’t have their own competition speech program,” Freeman said.
Mount Vernon Speech has 74 on roster
January 5, 2023
About the Contributor
Nathan Countryman, Editor
Nathan Countryman is the Editor of the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun.