On Saturday, March 4, the New York Mills speech competed at the Battle Lake Lions Invitational. The team took home four medals and four ribbons.

* Brooke Sonsalla placed second in Discussion and Original Oratory.

* Payton Lausten placed second in Prose Interpretation.

* Simon Resing placed third in Informative Speaking.

*Soren Stout earned Superior in Discussion (The meet’s discussion tasks were about the ethics of using Artificial Intelligence tools like Chat GPT in Speech.)

Julia Johnson earned Superior in Great Speeches.

* Ella Holmes earned Excellence in Storytelling (Ella is given 30 minutes to read a familiar story and prepare to retell it extemporaneously for an audience. Holmes’ favorite story to retell this season has been “The Beauty and the Beast.”) 

Anika Mursu earned Excellence in Prose Interpretation.

On Thursday, Feb. 29, the Junior High Speech team competed at Pequot Lakes.

Julia Johnson placed first in Great Speeches.

Lilly Anderson and *Reegan Baymler earned Superior in Duo.

Ava Carlson earned Excellence in Humorous Interpretation with her one-woman comedy called “The Accidental Goth” by Bradley Walton.

* Shaila Roberts earned Excellence in Original Oratory with a persuasive speech she wrote about the negative effects social media has on the mental health of young adults.

* Ella Holmes earned Excellence in Poetry Interpretation with a collection of poems about healing from Sexual Assault.

* denotes first year competing in Speech.