Bigfork speech and drama team gets ready to compete
Bigfork High School's speech and drama team is gearing up to start their 2009-2010 season.
The team is returning several members who participated in speech last year, including two of last year's state champions, Kayla Carlson and Jacob Sefcak, and a total of eight seniors.
"I hope that the veteran and senior presence will lead us to a great season," said Charlie Appleby, BHS speech and drama coach.
The team will participate in their first meet this Saturday in Polson. There are 21 kids signed up for the team right now, according to Appleby, and they will compete in about 10 events on Saturday.
"Things are starting slow again this year, especially in drama, where kids are still looking for, or memorizing pieces, but I have found that the start slow approach usually works as speech and drama is such a long season, I don't really want them to hit their stride before January, and kids can get pretty sick of their pieces early in the year," Appleby said.
The lengthy season has two meets a month for three months, followed by the divisional meet and then state.
On Nov. 14, they will compete in Libby. They will participate in Ronan's meet on Dec. 5 and in a two-day meet in Kalispell on Dec. 11 and 12. Bigfork will compete in a meet in Columbia Falls on Jan. 9 prior to hosting their own meet Jan. 16, which Appleby said he is still looking for volunteers to judge.
The Northern B-C Divisional Tournament will be held Jan. 23 in Malta and state will be Jan. 29 to 30 at Loyola Sacred Heart High School.
The speech and drama team will still compete in the same meets as it has in the past, but their scores will be ranked among Class B and C schools, which are combined for speech and drama competitions.
"I am both nervous and excited about joining Class B/C this year," Appleby said. "On the speech side, Loyola seems unbeatable. They've won since like 1984 or something, but I have no idea who is good in drama, and that will actually come as a bit of a surprise come divisionals and state. Most of the events we will be going to will be at A schools."
This year Appleby will be coaching without his wife Shannon, who is usually the team's assistant coach. She is working on getting her master's in education.
"She doesn't have the time to work full-time, go to school, and make sure that 20 high school students all remembered to eat lunch, go to the bathroom, dress appropriately and get their hair out of their faces. Oh yeah, and coach too."
Appleby, who teaches sophomore English at BHS, has coached the speech team for five years. He is also the journalism advisor and the drama class teacher as well as the assistant girls soccer coach.
"I feel like every year has been a fairy tale in that these kids exceed everything I could have hoped for them," Appleby said. "I talk a big game, but to be honest I am just impressed that they go into the (competition) room. It takes a lot of courage to speak or act competitively, and anyone who does win or lose it deserves to be proud."