Journalism, forensics students showcase talents at state
Both teams bring home hardware
By Dustin Zahorsky
May 11, 2009
The Silver Lake High School journalism students and forensics squad recently competed at state tournaments.
The journalism students competed at the Kansas Scholastic Press Association state contest on May 2. In 3A state sweepstakes points, Silver Lake High School captured second place behind Phillipsburg High School. Southeast of Saline High School took third place. Nineteen schools competed in the 3A division.
Individually, senior Autumn Runyan placed third in 3A state advertising, and the news team of juniors Jerod Barker and Amanda Lewis took second place in 3A state broadcasting.
Silver Lake boasted a historical five state champions this year. Seniors Natalie Glotzbach and Hannah Hansen were state champions in 3A broadcasting, senior Jeri Lyn Billings in news writing, senior Jessica Stadler in newspaper sports writing, and junior Samie Darling in yearbook theme development and graphics.
Billings and Darling said the categories they competed in were ones they work on all the time in journalism class.
"I chose the theme development and graphic category where you pick a theme from five choices they give you and make a yearbook cover, title paper, and a spread. My theme I picked was 'Somewhere in Between.' and I had to show how I would carry that out through the whole book.
"I was really surprised when I found out I got first. I got honorable mention, basically fourth, at regionals, so I definitely wasn't expecting to win," said Darling.
"I was in news writing, and basically I was given a specific topic to write about which was canceling a concert due to students' behavior. I was given a sheet with facts and quotes to choose what to use in the article. I picked to be in news writing because I do that every day in journalism, so it's just something I'm used to doing and thought I could succeed in.
"I was very shocked when I received first place. After receiving honorable mention at regionals, I went to state with low expectations, but I'm definitely thrilled I did end up with first," said Billings.
Jamie Manhart, journalism instructor, said all students did very well at the state tournament, and this year was one to remember.
"We obviously had a stellar year with five state champions. I know in the last 15 years at least, we have only had one state champion, who was Austin Roberson in broadcast last year. So to have five in one year was exciting and rewarding for the students. All of my journalism students have worked so hard. I'm graduating 15 seniors this year, and I will truly miss this group," said Manhart.
The Silver Lake forensics squad placed third in sweepstakes out of 42 schools at the 3A State Championship and Festival this past weekend at Wichita East High School. The squad accumulated 314 points, placing behind Rock Creek High School's second place finish with 337 points, and Sterling High School's impressive win with 394 points
Individual results are as follows: senior Trent Strunk, fifth in Extemporaneous Speaking; junior Shelby Brokaw, semifinalist in Extemporaneous Speaking; junior Lindsey Schroeder, sixth in Informative Speaking and State Champion in Original Oratory; sophomore Emily Taylor, semifinalist in Original Oratory; junior Jestina Matulka, sixth in Informative Speaking and semifinalist in Original Oratory; sophomore Christin Oyler, semifinalist in Informative Speaking; junior Jerod Barker, fifth in Humorous Solo Acting and second in Original Oratory; sophomore Jake Maryott, second in Serious Solo Acting; senior Jay McDaniel, semifinalist in Humorous Solo Acting; junior Derek Holmer, sixth in Duet Acting; junior Rachel Cross, sixth in Duet Acting; sophomore Jaeton Martin, third in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and freshman Kyle Klucas, second in Lincoln-Douglas Debate.
There are always a variety of topics in informative, but Matulka picked a subject of which everyone has knowledge.
"My informative topic is crayons, and I chose that one because I still like to color and crayons are a fun topic.
"My performances at state went pretty well and, in my informative, I made it all the way to the finals and I ended up getting sixth. That was a good day for that. State is always a good tournament and it's a lot of fun," said Matulka.
Many students also competed at the State Festival level.
The results are as follows: freshman Jacob Schroeder, "1" in Extemporaneous Speaking and "3" in Informative Speaking; sophomore Nikki Richardson, "1" in Extemporaneous Speaking; freshman Sadie McGough, "2" in Informative Speaking and "1" in Duet Acting; freshman Holly Cokeley, "1" in Duet Acting; sophomore Stephanie Carroll, "1" in Poetry Interpretation; sophomore Audri Moneith, "1" in Prose Interpretation; Rachel Brokaw, "2" in Informative Speaking; Dylan Holthaus, "2" in Prose Interpretation; Colby Haverkamp, "2" in Prose Interpretation and "2" in Original Oration; Brianna Thompson, "2" in Humorous Solo Acting, and Danae Nelson "2" in informative.
