Uniontown sends 9 to state speech

UNIONTOWN -- Uniontown High School recently sent nine students to the Kansas State High School Activities Association Class 2A State Speech and Drama Championships which took place May 1 in Wichita.

In order to qualify for the state championships, each student must have earned a first or second place finish at one of the invitational tournaments that take place throughout the school year, according to UHS Forensics Coach Myrna Wildschuetz.

UHS students who competed at the state championships include Tiffany Poyner, Ryan Ramsey, Garic Tinsley, Lauren Rockhold, Caroline O'Dell, Veronica Harrison, Hope Jurgensen, Domonic Robinson, and Josh Beerbower. Ramsey qualified for the semifinals in humorous solo acting and finished in tenth place. Ramsey and Tinsley qualified for the semifinals in duet acting and the pair finished in ninth place. Rockhold also qualified for the semifinals with a fifth place finish in serious solo acting.

Wildschuetz said the students spend countless hours practicing before the state championships in order to prepare their performances for the competition.

"These kids spend hours and hours both in class and at home," she said.

Thirty-four Class 2A schools competed in the state tournament. Events that students at these schools compete in throughout the school year include original oration, informative speech, oral interpreatation of poetry, oral interpretation of prose, duet acting, serious solo acting, humorous solo acting, improvised duet acting, and extemporaneous speech.

The state championship tournament was the final contest of the UHS forensics team's 2009-10 season, Wildschuetz said.