On Saturday, Nov. 5, the Speech Team had their first whole team tournament at Joliet West High School. The team placed second overall, despite missing some of their team members.

The team had two, first place winners. These talented champions were Alana Nisperos in Informative Speaking and Tess O’Brien in Humorous Interpretation. The team congratulated their members and themselves on a successful first competition.

This was the second tournament for newcomers, as they had their first friendly novice tournament on Oct. 29 at Homewood Flossmoor High School, where they placed fourth as a team. For many novices to the Speech Team this year, both competitions were a good first experience and gave them insight on the season ahead.

“For my first two [tournaments] I had a great time and I met so many new people,” said freshman Teagan Lee.

The team welcomes all grades of any skill level to join and compete in categories of their interest. Speech competitions consist of 14 different events a student can participate in, with each one being unique and catering towards different interests and abilities. The events focus on public speaking and acting events, which enhances communication skills and confidence in many students.

Many are intimidated by public speaking and could never think of competitively speaking in front of others, but passion and friendship are what drives these skilled students to success.

“Most people think speech is scary, but when you enjoy what you’re talking about it can be really fun,” said Lee. “You can also meet so many cool people at speech [tournaments] and it’s nice because they all enjoy the same things as you do.”

With their first official tournament checked off in the books, members are hopeful of future tournaments.

“I think the Speech Team is and will do really well this season,” said Lee.