REGIONALS Three cheers for the Walther Forensics Team.  Three team members competed in the IHSA Regional Individual Events contest at Proviso East on February 3.  All three made it to finals in all four events they were entered in.  Megan Childs earned 7th place in Verse Reading, Erica McLin was awarded 6th place in Oratorical Declamation and Lorenzo Patrick won 6th place in Radio Speaking.  Lorenzo also placed 3rd in Prose Reading and advances to Sectionals on February 10 at Thornwood High School in South Holland.  Congratulations!
	Congratulations to the Walther Forensics Team who earned four awards at the Stevenson Festival Tournament on January 27.  Johnathan Riley received a 2nd place medal for his Original Verse, he also won a 4th place ribbon for Verse Reading.  Lorenzo Patrick was awarded a 3rd place medal for Prose Reading.  Megan Childs took 6th place in Verse Reading.  She also earned membership in the National Forensics League.  Teammate Erica McLin earned membership in the League at the Libertyville Tournament on January 20.  All active members of the team are now members of this prestigious honor society.  Lorenzo, Megan, Erica and Brianna Harris will compete in the February Regionals at Proviso East on Saturday.  Yea Team!
	Forensics team members Brianna Harris, Benjamin Lamey, Erica McLin, Lorenzo Patrick and Taneisha Prell each attended the Waubonsie Valley Speech Invitational on Saturday, January 13.  While none of the team members advanced to the final round, Taneisha has now qualified for the National Forensics League where she has earned the Degree of Merit and Lorenzo has now earned the Degree of Excellence.
The team would like to extend a warm thank you to those who helped us get home safely after our van experienced car trouble on the way home, especially Mrs. Beveridge, Miss Costello, Mr. Zilke, Mr. and Mrs. Gillingham, Ms. Welter's husband Carl Franz, her neighbor Naomi Pooley.  We praise the Lord and thank him for keeping us safely in his hands.
Please see Ms. Welter to learn how membership in the National Forensic League can benefit you and enhance your college applications.	Congratulations to Brianna Harris, Benjamin Lamey, Andrea Mazza, Johnathan Riley, Elizabeth Sreniawski, and Robert Wacker who have each earned Degrees of Merit from the National Forensic League in recognition of their active participation on the forensics team. Extra congratulations to Lorenzo Patrick for earning the Degree of Honor. Four members of the team attended the Willowbrook High School Winter Tournament on Saturday, December 16. Erica McLin placed 11th in Oratorical Declamation. Benjamin Lamey placed 10th in Prose Reading. In Verse Reading Megan Childs placed 12th and Johnathan Riley placed 14th . Johnathan also placed 10th in Radio Speaking. The whole team is now gearing up for our next tournament after Christmas break.
Update From the Forensics Coach: Mrs. Lynette Welter	The Walther Forensics Team had another successful outing  on Saturday, December 9 at the Proviso East Tournament of Hugs.  Johnathan Riley brought home a 4th place ribbon in Verse Reading.  He also placed 11th in Radio Speaking.  Lorenzo Patrick earned two 6th place ribbons, one for Prose and another for Radio Speaking.  The Humorous Duet Acting Team of Brianna Harris and Taneisha Prell received a 6th place ribbon.  Erica McLin made a valiant showing of 12th place in Oratorical Declamation and 13th place in Original Oratory.  Die-hard team member Benjamin Lamey placed 13th in Prose reading.  And Taneisha Prell, who courageously filled in for an absent team member with a Verse Reading she had never seen before that day, placed 11th in the event.  Certainly the Lord was with us as we faced the challenges of the day.  To Him be all the glory, honor and praise.
	Congratulations to... Johnathan Riley who won First Place in Original Poetry at the Lake Forest Speech Festival on November 18. CLICK HERE TO READ JOHNATHAN'S AWARD-WINNING POETRY. Team member Lorenzo Patrick also brought home a medal, placing 3rd in Prose Reading. These young men also tied for fourth place in Radio Speaking.  Erica McLin reached 7th place in Oratorical Declamation as did Megan Childs in Verse Reading, Taneisha Prell placed 9th in with Prose Reading as did Robert Wacker in Verse Reading.  Taneisha and Robert also reached 9th place in Improvisational Duet Acting.  Students Benjamin Lamey and Wanda Smith attended as observers.

The Bronco Forensics Team participates in the IHSA Individual Events program. There are eleven categories within this event and all of them offer students a fantastic opportunity to develop lifelong skills in communication. Public speaking can cause a great deal of anxiety for the person having to perform it. Yet, in every profession, speaking to groups is a necessity. Developing skills of presentation, enunciation and delivery help the speaker to be confident in front of an audience as well as to present themselves as educated and competent people. There are also areas that allow the students to express themselves in drama and humor. We feel confident that the skills the students develop as Forensics Team members will be invaluable to them throughout their lives.

The individual Events categories that students choose from are as follows:

•  Dramatic/Humorous Duet Acting: the presentation of a dramatic or humorous selection by two individuals.

•  Dramatic/Humorous Interpretation: the oral presentation of literature.

•  Prose Reading : the oral interpretation of prose literature.

•  Verse Reading : the oral interpretation of poetry.

•  Oratorical Declamation: the presentation of persuasive or inspirational material of literary merit, such as editorials, essays, speeches, etc., originally prepared by another person.

•  Oratory: the oral presentation of the work of the student, designed to persuade.

•  Original Comedy: the oral presentation of the work of the student, designed to entertain.

•  Special Occasion Speaking: a speech which is the original work of the student, in which the student is himself or herself at his or her current age, speaking in a realistic situation for the purpose of informing and entertaining an audience.

•  Extemporaneous Speaking: the student is given forty-five minutes to prepare an original speech indicating his knowledge of current events concerning an assigned topic.

•  Impromptu Speaking: the student is given eight minutes to prepare and deliver an original limited preparation speech.

•  Radio Speaking: the presentation of a five minute newscast, including a commercial.