NCWHS Wildcat Speech

11/11/2024

Normal West placed third for small school entries at Limestone this weekend!

🏅 Varsity EX - Hannah Kerman (1st 🥇)
🏅 Varsity INFO - Hannah Kerman (3rd)
🏅 Varsity PRO - Bailey Mackinson (4th)

06/17/2024

We’re in Des Moines and ready to kick off our week at the National Speech and Debate tournament! Good luck to Sofi (original oratory), Bailey (prose), and Hannah (expository), and good luck to all of our Illinois friends competing this week too!

04/13/2024

Great work, Wildcats! Check out Hannah and Sofi using their speech skills to make a difference!

Our Wildcats did some great work this past Saturday, April 6th at ISU at the 25th Annual Capitol Forum. This meeting brings schools from around the state to discuss, debate, and deliberate the following current global issues: Climate Change, Immigration, Terrorism, and Trade and through the lens of these issues, develop an argument for what the future of US foreign policy should be.

From left to right in picture:
Back Row: Caden Atteberry, Hannah Kerman, Benedicte Diamonika, Austin Miller, Lena Ganschow, and Belle Phillips

Front Row: Alison Cervantes and Sofia Benitez

Not Pictured: Max Nord

03/03/2024

Normal West is going to nationals 2024! 🖤🩶

Congratulations to Sofi Benitez, who will be one of only two original oratory finalists representing the Greater Illinois District in Des Moines this summer.

Congrats as well to Hannah Kerman for being a finalist in Congressional Debate: House.

Shout out to everyone who competed today! We’ll see you in Des Moines! 🌽

02/16/2024

Best of luck to Sofi Benitez as she competes in Radio Speaking this weekend at the IHSA Speech State Finals!

02/11/2024

Congratulations to our Sofi Benitez for advancing to the IHSA Speech State Finals in radio speaking!

Here are Normal West’s full sectional final results:

🏅 Oratorical Declamation - Isabelle Carlson (4th)
🏅 Original Oratory - Sofi Benítez (4th)
🏅 Radio Speaking - Sofi Benitez (2nd 🥈)

Congratulations to all the sectional competitors and especially to those advancing to state!

02/06/2024

Normal West is advancing five events to the IHSA Speech Sectional at U-High on Saturday, February 10th. Congratulations and good luck to Isabelle Carlson in oratorical declamation, Hannah Kerman in extemporaneous speaking and informative speaking, and Sofi Benitez in original oratory and radio speaking (regional tournament champion)!

02/04/2024

Congratulations to our regional finalists and to everyone advancing to sectionals! Those who placed in the top 4* will compete at the IHSA sectional at U-High next weekend:

🏅 Dramatic Interpretation - Bailey Mackinson (6th)
🏅 Extemporaneous Speaking - Hannah Kerman (3rd 🥉)*
🏅 Humorous Interpretation - Ella Hammond (7th)
🏅 Informative Speaking - Hannah Kerman (4th)*
🏅 Oratorical Declamation - Isabelle Carlson (2nd 🥈)*
🏅 Original Oratory - Sofi Benítez (2nd 🥈)*
🏅 Poetry Reading - Isabelle Carlson (6th)
🏅Prose Reading - Ella Hammond (7th)
🏅 Radio Speaking - Sofi Benitez (1st 🥇)*

02/03/2024

Presenting the Normal West Regional Team:

🎤 Dramatic Interpretation - Bailey Mackinson: “Stolen Moments”
🎤 Extemporaneous Speaking - Hannah Kerman
🎤 Humorous Interpretation - Ella Hammond: “An Animated Discussion”
🎤 Informative Speaking - Hannah Kerman: “(Brain) Death & Taxes”
🎤 Oratorical Declamation - Isabelle Carlson: “Language Around Gender Identity Evolves (And Always Has)”
🎤 Original Oratory - Sofi Benítez: “Double Consciousness en la Comunidad Latina”
🎤 Poetry Reading - isabelle Carlson: “Neither Either Nor Or”
🎤 Prose Reading - Ella Hammond: “How to Speak Child Fluently”
🎤 Radio Speaking - Sofi Benítez

Best of luck to everyone competing across the state today, and especially to our Wildcats!

01/28/2024

Thank you to our friends at Heyworth for hosting our final tournament of the regular season! Congrats to our Normal West finalists:

🏅 Varsity EX - Hannah Kerman (6th)
🏅 Varsity INFO - Hannah Kerman (4th)
🏅 Varsity DEC - Isabelle Carlson (3rd 🥉)
🏅 Varsity OO - Sofi Benítez (2nd 🥈)
🏅 Varsity POE - Isabelle Carlson (3rd 🥉)
🏅 Varsity Radio - Sofi Benitez (1st 🥇)

01/21/2024

We traveled to the Belleville West SISAL tournament this weekend. Congrats to all the competitors! Normal West had the following finalists:

🏅 Varsity DEC- Isabelle Carlson (5th)
🏅 Varsity OO - Sofi Benítez (4th)
🏅 Varsity POE - Isabelle Carlson (5th)
🏅 Junior Varsity Prose - Ella Hammond (7th)

(The traditional “silly one” photo devolved into a series of shots documenting a failed piggyback attempt.)

01/14/2024

We competed at the SISAL tournament at Glenwood High School today. Congrats to everyone who competed today, especially our Normal West finalists:

🏅 Junior Varsity EX - Hannah Kerman (2nd🥈)
🏅 Varsity INFO - Hannah Kerman (4th)
🏅 Varsity DEC - Isabelle Carlson (1st 🥇)
🏅 Varsity OO - Sofi Benítez (5th)