Highland’s Forensic Team met with success this past weekend during competition at the Harper College Forensics Tournament in Palatine, Ill.
Bill Lucio, the Forensics Team coach, said the Harper Tournament is often described as the toughest pre-national tournament of the year because schools do not normally compete against teams from New York, Kansas, Virginia, Wyoming, and California, which adds an extra layer of competition.
“Our students got to see some awesome speeches and, not only did they make new friends with students from other schools by competing in an event called ‘Group Communication,’ where they were placed in groups of 5-7 students from other schools, and were given 40 minutes to complete a task together, but they took home some trophies,” Lucio said.
Josh Naujokas competed in Humorous Interpretation and took home a silver medal (placing in the top half of all speakers) in Impromptu Speaking.
Alec Aurand competed in Extemporaneous Speaking and took home a silver medal (placing in the top half of all speakers) for Impromptu Speaking.
Alyssa Johnson competed in Prose Interpretation and took home a silver medal (placing in the top half of all speakers) for Program Oral Interpretation.
Alli Barr competed in Poetry and took home a silver medal (placing in the top half of all speakers) for Dramatic Interpretation.
Tommy Temple competed in prose interpretation, Krischain Heitz competed in Prose Interpretation and Humorous Persuasion, and Michelle Johnson competed in prose Interpretation and Persuasive Speaking.
“Our students received a lot of comments from other coaches who have been noticing how well Highland has been doing recently. Highland Community College is gaining visibility and everyone is excited about a potential tournament to be hosted here,” Lucio said.
Photo caption: (Left to right, front row) Josh Naujokas, Alec Aurand, Alyssa Johnson and Alli Barr. (Back row) Tommy Temple, Krischain Heitz, and Michelle Johnson