Shea Ladies Earn Trips to State Large Group Speech
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Mandy (left) and Kristen (right) Shea
On January 24th, the family really bonded with their vehicles as the kids started with archery, then the two older fit in large group speech, and then all were back at archery. The commitment to both sports paid off, at least for speech. Both Kristen and Mandy earned advancement to state large group speech with their speech teammates.
Kristen, a junior at SC, really embraced her speech skills in both Reader's Theatre and in Choral Reading. According to the Iowa High School Speech Association's website, Reader's Theatre is defined as "a group performs a presentation of a work, read from a script; There are no props besides chairs. Scripts required. Up to fifteen students may participate." Choral Reading is defined as the following: Also known as voice choir, where group members perform a work from a script, whether in unison or not; movements and voice changes are used for effect. Scripts required. Up to fifteen students may participate."
"How we prepare for competitions is plenty of practice and spending time focusing on the small details because, despite how small they may seem, everything we do has a purpose and plays an important part in the production," said Kristen.
Mandy, a freshman this year, explained how she chose to be in the Choral Reading group.
"So our lovely director, Ms. H (Emily Hageman) wrote all our plays, then we audition by reading the script, then she casts us in whichever play she thinks we will do best in," she explained.
Kristen is a three-time large group participant and three-time state qualifier. Mandy is in her first year as a large group participant but added that she has been in preparation for this moment since she entered school at Danbury Catholic.
"I've been doing large group theater for a while, even in Danbury Catholic with our performances, or as I like to call them mini musicals, and then I just continued doing it into Siouxland Christian," she said.
As for achieving a three-peat to State, Kristen kept it humble.
"When it comes to expecting or not expecting to make it to state, we simply throw that thought out the window and focus on doing our best to tell an important and impactful story," she commented. "In our minds, our goal is to shine the light on a story or really that some people turn a blind eye to. Winning and moving onto the next round is towards the bottom of our priorities. Regardless of how it ends, we celebrate being able to share and impactful story with the judges and the audience."
Mandy's response was more of what many consider.
"I was excited that all our hard work for the play paid off, even though we had to improv at a few spots due to mess ups," concluded Mandy.
The two will compete at State on February 7th with the rest of their teams. Good performance to you!
Photo submitted by Nicole Shea. Thanks, Nicole!
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As part of their Catholic Schools Week celebration last week, the staff and students invited law enforcement officials and veterans to join them in a patriotic rosary. Like the traditional Rosary, five decades of the Hail Mary along with The Lord's Prayer were said. Unlike a traditional Rosary, , peas for prayers for the souls in each state in the nation are interspersed in the Rosary.