Jan. 30, 3013 Hi-Line

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Capoeira Time

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Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2012 Volume 53 Edition 16

DECA dominates Districts Cedar Falls DECA got their feet wet on Thursday, Jan. 24 at the District competition held at College Square Mall. Competing in the Travel and Tourism team event were juniors Elle Stackhouse and Ashley Holstun, who brought home 1st place, senior Natalie Rokes and junior Sami Schildroth, who took 3rd place, and the senior Brandon Bardal/ junior Lewis Mickey team who received Honorable Mention. “Before our role play, Elle and I decided to separate what we were going to talk about. It was easier for us to communicate back and forth smoothly with the judge because we’ve been friends for so long. Our test scores weren’t the best, but we got a 93 on our role play, which brought us home the gold,” Holstun said. In Apparel and Accessories Marketing, junior Jordan Caruso took 3rd place. Junior Lauren Eastman and senior Wyatt Kroemer were awarded Honorable Mention in Accounting Applications and Retail Merchandising respectively. In the Hospitality Team event, seniors Lindsey Davis and Laura Schwickerath

took 3rd place while senior Chris Dobson was rewarded with a 2nd place in Restaurant Marketing. Competition included a 100-question test and role play where students could perform as a team or participate individually. Among other competing teams were Waverly, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Oelwein, Hampton-Dumont and Tripoli. Senior Natalie Rokes is the DECA District 1 Co-Vice President. Rokes played a big role in the preparation and management of the District competition. “I had to help meet with the mall manager beforehand to rent the space needed for the competition. I also had to correspond with the other state officers and advisers in District,” Rokes said. As a DECA VP, Rokes has to spend a lot of time planning for events not only like Districts, but State as well. During the summer, she made many trips to Des Moines to meet with other officers and prepare for the Fall conference. She also had to attend a leadership conference herself.

Students involved in DECA gain real world business experience that is hard to find elsewhere. The District competition serves as a sort of practice round before State. All who participate at Districts are welcome to move on to State, regardless of how well they performed. It helps participants see where they need to improve so that they can place at the State level and advance to Nationals, held in Anaheim, Calif., in April. “To improve, I can take the practice tests Mr. Flaherty gave us and study those, but besides that, I can’t do much more. Taking business and econ classes has helped though,” Kroemer said. “I feel I could have gotten better than an honorable mention at Districts. I’m not sure about all the scores and how I did compared to other kids in the role play, but I do know I got the highest test score in my event and a good role play score, but I’m not worried about it because it was just practice for State.” Students who didn’t perform well at last year’s Districts saw vast improvement this year. “Last year my partner and I didn’t

even receive honorable mention, so placing 3rd was a definite improvement. I feel pretty good moving into the State competition after placing third with my partner,” Schwickerath said. “I think if we work on the practice tests together, we will be able to improve our test scores and have an advantage over the competition.” No matter the outcome of the scores, DECA teaches useful skills such as communication and professionalism. Not only is it an effective experience, but it offers a chance for some friendly competition and is a good opportunity to enhance business skills. “I think it’s a great experience, and it’s pertinent because I’m going into business in college. Nationals is in Anaheim this year, so I definitely plan on placing at State,” Kroemer said. “I do it to win,” Schwickerath said. The State competition is held in Des Moines the last weekend of February.

By Entertainment Editor Lindsey

DAVIS

Speech team sends plethora of talent to State Nearly two or three months of practicing long and hard for districts brought wonderful results to CFHS speech teams. Saturday, Jan. 19, Speech Districts arrived and speech students competed in LaPorte City at Union High School. Speech teams from participating high schools go to their district competition and perform. Then, the judges will give them a rating of one, two, three or four. If team members receive a one, they go to State. If they receive a two, it means that they did well, but they didn’t make it to State. The same goes for a three. A four is equivalent to disqualification. The CFHS teams that made State this year are Short Film, 9th grade Readers Theatre - “Cave Dream,” Ensemble - “The Pillow Man,” 9th grade Choral Reading, Ensemble - “Mary Just Broke Up With This Guy,” 9th grade Radio “TWET 100,” One Act - “A Night in the Ukraine,” Readers Theatre - “Old Man,” Improv - Team Fienup and Choral Reading - “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Being A Zombie.” There are many different speech team categories to choose from, and for the coaches, different categories to

teach. “Over my six years of coaching Large Group and Individual Speech, I have coached a little of everything. Readers Theatre, Musical Theatre, Ensemble Acting, One Act, and Group Mime are some of my favorites (not that I don't like coaching groups in the other categories) I just feel the most comfortable and knowledgeable in these categories,” coach Alissa Unertl said. Each category has a completely different feel from the next. Sophomore Emma Redington from Readers Theater and Group Mime agrees. “Improv is challenging since you make something up on the spot, and it takes a lot of creativity. I really enjoy improv though because it’s fun and hilarious to watch. Group Mime is a bit different from improv because you create an in-depth story that you practice many times before you perform. Group Mime also takes more facial and hand gestures than improv since you can’t use your voice,” Redington said. Not only is the performing part of speech fun, but getting to know your team members and crafting memories with them is also something every

speech team member looks forward to. “The best part of districts is being able to see and visit with your friends. You really just feed off of each other’s energy to do the best performance and job possible. We’re all like a family and it’s very engaging,” sophomore Liam Tate, of Readers Theater, said. Along with making new friends and performing new things, participants grow in their acting and speech abilities, and gain confidence in themselves. “My favorite part of coaching is seeing the growth in students from the beginning to end. I don't think that the students realize or notice their growth from practice to practice. They don't see the change in confidence, or the ability to step outside their comfort zone to try something new. Fortunately, I do get to see it, and it amazes me every year. I am amazed by the amount of confidence that students gain in front of an audience from participating in speech. It's something that they will be able to use, no matter what path their education and career paths take them,” Unertl said. Though speech certainly is fun, it also takes a lot of dedication.

“Speech is a commitment. Over the summer I’m searching for possible scripts for different events, and once the season begins, I have practices before and after school, some days starting at 6:45 am and ending at 7pm,” Unertl said. As aforementioned, performing in speech competitions takes confidence. “Don’t give up. Speech takes time, and even if you don’t match your teammates’ abilities, if you keep going at it and keep practicing, it won’t be long until you do,” sophomore Lexy Jacobson of improv and group mime said. Unertl agrees with Jacobson’s advice. “I guess I would say to have confidence and believe in what you do. If you stand tall, are passionate, and speak to an audience confidently, they will listen,” Unertl said. CFHS speech teams are performing Tuesday night at the high school for their recital and Saturday at Dubuque Senior for the state competition.

By Staff Writer Alyssa

JENSEN


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Jan. 30, 3013 Hi-Line by CFHS journalism - Issuu