Blair's Forensics team wins at competition

Three members of Blair's forensics team placed highly in the last of three qualifying forensics tournaments held Saturday March 1, qualifyng them for the final tournament on March 21-22 at Quince Orchard High School.

Sophomore Captain Abigail Fraeman received first place in the category of serious prose and third place in the category of persuasive speaking. Senior Annie Peirce received first place in serious dramatic interpretation and second in humorous interpretation, and senior Katie Leonard received fourth place in children's literature.

The March 1 tournament, held at Albert Einstein High School, was previously scheduled for the weekend of Feb 22, but was delayed due to the snow.

Fraeman's two wins at the March 1 tournament make her eligible to compete in six categories at the final tournament. Her wins include placing first in the second tournament for Children's Literature, second in the second tournament for informative speaking, first in the first tournament for humorous interpretation and fifth at the first tournament for serious poetry. Although Fraeman is qualified to compete for six categories, students are only allowed to compete in three categories at the final tournament.

Peirce placed second in the second tournament for children's literature in addition to her two wins at the March 1 competition. Leonard placed in the second tournament for serious prose.

Senior Amanda Way, who also participated in the March 1 qualifying tournament, placed third in the second tournament for serious prose and fourth in the first tournament for children's literature. Sophomore Elizabeth Finn placed in the second tournament for extemporaneous speaking. Senior Eric Schaffer placed second in the first tournament for serious prose.

Over a dozen schools participated in the March 1 tournament, but there were slightly fewer competitors because the snow emergency did not allow many teams to practice together. Prior to the March 1 competition, none of the Blair competitors had heard any of their teammates' pieces. Many of the Blair team, including team leader Danielle Prados, were also not able to attend because of mandatory Saturday rehearsals for the spring musical "West Side Story."

There are eleven different categories for forensics including children's literature, serious dramatic interpretation, ensemble acting, extemporaneous speaking, humorous interpretation, informative speaking, persuasive oratory, serious interpretation, serious prose interpretation and readers' theatre.

Most speeches are between five and ten minutes long and, except for readers' theatre and ensemble acting, performed alone. Participants are allowed to perform in only two categories per tournament and only ensemble acting requires memorization.

Since the majority of the team are seniors, the team and its sponsor, social studies teacher Cassandra Heath, are heavily encouraging more students to join and be a part of the team. The forensics team meets alternating Wednesdays and Thursdays at 3:00 in room 264.

The awards night where the final winners will be announced is scheduled for Tuesday March 25.