March 31, 1999
CHS forensics sweep meet
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Members of the Traverse City Central High School Forensics Team brought back five first place and one second place finish last week at the Michigan Interscholastic Forensics Association regional meet in Charlevoix. Six members of the seven-member team qualified for the district finals in Holland on April 17, a promising showing for team whose members who were all new to forensics this year.
"They are very talented to begin with but they are very dedicated," said Darren DePuydt, coach of the Forensics Team for two years. "A lot of coaching in forensics is keeping them motivated because they are doing the same piece for two months. But these kids are motivated to succeed; they started at the top and just kept getting better."
At a forensics meet, individual team members compete against members from other schools in the categories of poetry, storytelling, oratory, prose and impromptu. Forensics is neither debate nor acting; it is not about convincing anyone, having a dialogue or moving around on a stage. Forensics is simply an individual reciting and interpreting a piece of literature in front of a team of judges.
"I read, I don't act," said Phil Garrow, a 10th grader who competes in the prose category with the piece 'The War Prayer' by Mark Twain. "I try to get the message across through voice inflection, facial expression, not through acting."
Forensics rules allow each person between five and eight minutes to tell their tale, recite their poem, read a story or make up a speech on a given topic. The goal in forensics is self expression and competitors may use gestures and pantomime to convey emotion or drama.
If a piece has more than one character, the person reciting uses different body expressions and voices to differentiate among them. Erick Johnson chose the poem 'The Perfect High' by Shel Silverstein, which includes three characters. Even after months of performing the same piece, he continues to look for new ways to differentiate among the characters and make his recitation more exciting.
"One character speaks a lot slower and more dramatic, another is faster talking," said Johnson, an 11th grader. "Interpretation is a little more exciting that straight public address."
Members of the Forensics Team compete in the same category and use the same piece all season, which runs from February to March. Once a team uses a piece in a category it must be retired. Competitors are not required to memorize their piece, but most do because judges frown on reading it at a meet.
The key to success in Forensics is to keep the piece sounding fresh at each competition and that means not rehearsing it too much.
"I don't rehearse because it gets old really fast," said Garrow, who is also on the Debate Team, the Student Senate and the newspaper. "Only the thought of victory and the prospect of winning keeps me going."
Members of the Traverse City Central High School Forensics Team meet weekly to practice and perfect their delivery. They give each other pointers and help each other improve in their category.
"It is a tight group, they've become friends," said DePuydt, who works as a speech and language pathologist for the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District. "They help each other and are constructive, not critics."