WAUSA – Members of the Wausa High School speech team have spoken – and the judges like what they heard.
Wausa’s success at this year’s district meet has led to several entries qualifying for the state contest.
Wausa placed second as a team at the District D1-3 speech meet it hosted March 12. Plainview won the event with 300 points, followed by Wausa with 234 points; Clarkson, 124 points; Creighton, 88 points; Leigh, 78 points; and Wynot, 76 points.
Individually, Wausa medaled with 15 of its 18 entries at the district contest. The top three finishers in each event moved on to the State meet.
Wausa, the defending Class D1 state team champion, has nine state-qualifying entries this year.
The 2024 Nebraska School Activities Association State Speech Championships are scheduled for Classes D1 and D2 on March 22 at Kearney High School.
Husband-and-wife duo Kyle and Samantha Stevens are the co-coaches of the Wausa speech team.
Kyle Stevens said he and Samantha “are very happy with the effort the students put in” at the district meet.
“We were in a very tough district with many very talented students and competitive entries,” he said. “We put our best foot forward, so to speak, and let the judges decide.
“Our kids want to do well,” he said. “They want the team to do well. That is evident in their willingness to sacrifice time for practice or to take on an event for the team over their personal goals.”
Wausa senior Holly Johnson placed first in both Entertainment Speaking and Serious Prose at this year’s district contest, as well as second in Oral Interpretation of Drama with senior Claire Kumm, senior Cade Wakeley, junior Kendall Story and sophomore Avery Stevens.
This is the third year Johnson has qualified for the state meet.
“It feels really accomplishing to qualify for state this year,” Johnson said. “I am really excited, but I am also always really nervous before I perform.”
Kumm has qualified for the state contest all throughout high school, so this will be her fourth year competing at the event. In addition to OID, she placed second in Persuasive Speaking at the district meet.
“It feels great to be a fourth-year qualifier for the state speech meet,” Kumm said. “I’m so excited to be competing with my best friends and amazing coaches one last time.”
This is Wakeley’s second time qualifying for the state contest.
“It feels very accomplishing to qualify for the state speech meet because all of our hard work during the season paid off in the end,” Wakeley said. “I would say that I am more excited than anything else.”
Johnson mostly practices her speeches after school with Samantha Stevens.
“I also run through (them) in my head a lot,” Johnson said. “The OID I am in is called ‘Hercules’ and is based off the movie.”
Johnson described her two other state-qualifying speech pieces.
“My Serious Prose is titled ‘Dear Husband’ and is based on a true story of a mother that suffered from postpartum depression,” Johnson said. “My Entertainment (speech) is ‘How to Make a Man Fall in Love with You’ and is a three-step plan to find your dream man, with a bit of a twist.”
Kumm practices her speeches with her coaches, or whenever she gets the chance to do so at school or at home.
“My Persuasive speech talks about opioid abuse disorder affecting women specifically,” Kumm said. “I chose this topic after watching an assembly on fentanyl, and after some research, I discovered a passion for this issue.”
Wakeley said he and his OID teammates always practice with their coaches.
“I would say that we have all really grown this speech season as a whole,” Wakeley said. “We have made finals for OID every meet, but we didn’t compete how we wanted to and we were always changing things every week to get to the point where we are now.”
Johnson said she felt this speech season has gone really well for herself and her team so far.
“I feel that I have improved from last year and I hope to keep improving till the end of the season,” Johnson said. “I feel that the speech team has done really well this year. Our team is not as big as it has been in the past; there are still a lot of talented individuals.”
Kumm agreed with Johnson about Wausa’s speech season.
“I feel that the speech season has gone well, with every member on the team improving every day,” Kumm said. “I’m so proud of everyone and all the work that has been put in this season.”
Wakeley added, “I feel that the speech season has gone very well for the team as a whole and feel that everyone competed their hardest all season.” The Wausa speech team is prepared to travel to Kearney to defend its Class D1 state championship.
“These students are really what drives the success of the Wausa speech program,” Kyle Stevens said. “We are so proud of each student on this team and each student who commits to the time and effort it takes to do this. We will continue to prepare for state, and we will be very competitive in Kearney Friday.”
Wausa’s medal winners at this year’s district meet were: - Senior Holly Johnson, champion, Serious Prose (state qualifier). - Senior Holly Johnson, champion, Entertainment Speaking (state qualifier).
- Senior Holly Johnson, senior Claire Kumm, senior Cade Wakeley, junior Kendall Story and sophomore Avery Stevens, runner-up, Oral Interpretation of Drama (state qualifier).
- Senior Claire Kumm, runner-up, Persuasive Speaking (state qualifier). - Sophomore Luke Woockman, runner-up, Entertainment Speaking (state qualifier).
- Sophomore Braydon Hoesing and freshman Rogan Hoesing, runner-up, Duet Acting (state qualifier).
- Sophomore Braydon Hoesing, runner-up, Humorous Prose (state qualifier).
- Sophomore Braydon Hoesing, runner-up, Program of Oral Interpretation (state qualifier).
- Junior Kendall Story, third place, Serious Prose (state qualifier). - Senior Sophia Wilken, fourth place, Program of Oral Interpretation. - Senior Addison Wynia, fifth place, Informative Speaking. - Sophomore Alijah Nelson, fifth place, Humorous Prose. - Sophomore Avery Stevens, fifth place, Persuasive Speaking. - Senior Hadley Vanness, sophomore Cody Bloomquist, sophomore Taylor Dawson, sophomore Alijah Nelson and sophomore Gaven Nipp, sixth place, Oral Interpretation of Drama.
- Freshman Rogan Hoesing, sixth place, Informative Speaking.
