Three-peat For B-H Interpers At Districts

    For the third year in a row, the Britton-Hecla Oral Interpretation team took home the District 7B Championship. All of the competitors B-H sent to the contest will advance to Regions at Webster next Monday. 
    Senior Brynlee Patterson qualified in both the Storytelling and Oratory categories. Junior Braydon Casey advances with his Humorous piece. Oliver Moeckly and Jerod Nebrida, both juniors, will take their duo to Regions. Freshman Emily Effling’s Serious selection qualified and Sophomore Paisley Bray will take her Poetry piece. The Readers Theater group of Nebrida, Casey, Moeckly and freshman Carter Chapin will represent the school at Regions as well. 
    Britton-Hecla’s interp coaches Gretchen Christenson and Christina Bosse are proud of the program’s continued success. “We are thankful to have an interp program here with a long history of success at both the Class A and Class B levels,” the coaches noted. “Good competition starts right at locals which pushes the students to work harder.”
    The coaches explained that when the school’s numbers got really low a number of years ago, they opened the program to seventh and eighth graders.  “We think this, and the fact that we try to attend as many invitational tournaments as possible before qualifying competitions, really makes space for each interper to grow and learn and to realize speaking can be fun...not scary,” said Christenson and Bosse. “Hopefully, this builds confidence in communication skills that will last a lifetime.”
     They are looking forward to seeing how their team performs at Regions next week. “The core of last year’s team graduated, but this group has just stepped right up and done an amazing job,” said the B-H coaches. “It’s not easy to fit in one more activity among their other extra-curriculars and job responsibilities, but they find the time and get it done. We look forward to seeing how many will qualify for the State Festival.”
    Two Langford Area Interpers also qualified for the Region contest. Daniel Jesz will advance with his humorous piece “Sun Dazed,” and Josie Vander Vorst won a spot with her Oratory, “The Ones We Sent Away.” Megan Gustafson was also selected as alternate for the Poetry division. Morgan Ostlie and Tawnee Nelson also competed at Districts. LA’s Regional qualifiers also will compete at Webster next Monday. 
    Those qualifying in the Region Contest will be eligible to compete in the State Oral Interpretation Festival Dec. 1-2 in Harrisburg.