Rock Creek High School had their first forensics tournament on January 27, 2024 in Sabetha Kansas. As a team, they finished the weekend strong with 14 medals and 2nd place overall. 

Freshman Madelyn Liebsh, was asked how she wants to grow this season, she shares, “I want to grow as a public speaker and not to be so anxious when I go out and do it.”  Though she did not participate in this tournament.

Forensics is a class taught at Rock Creek High School by Keith Miller. Students who are enrolled in his class range from 9th through 12th grades.  Course content includes Prose and Poetry, Oration, Informative (Inf), Extemporaneous Speech (Extemp) , Impromptu (Imp), Dramatic Interpretation (DI), and Humorous Interpretation (HI). Students can then compete in all of these categories.

Elizabeth Martinez Bojorquez, a junior, said her interest in forensics began in her freshman year.

“I’ve always been like an extrovert person,” Bojorquez said.  “The way they were talking about it made it seem like it was an opportunity to make more connections and meet new people and to do fun things and I was willing to take the opportunity. So I signed up.”

A typical day at a tournament begins very early.

“The bus usually leaves about 6 a.m., so you usually sleep or practice your lines,“ Martinez Bojorquez said.

The tournaments require a lot of preparation and practice. There are typically three rounds and then the finals. 

“The finals are a big deal,” Martinez Bojorquez said.  And she added that people are usually pretty nervous to find out if they “break”, or get into the final round.

Martinez Bojorquez said that it is important to learn to read the judge. “My ability to adapt and work for it makes me pretty good,” Bojorquez explains.

Bojorquez says, “The moment that you find out you got into the finals it’s like your heart’s gonna explode. It’s like the best thing ever.”

Awards:

Devin Fleming got 3rd in Extemp and 3rd in Impromptu

Samantha Johnson got 4th in Impromptu

Haylee Lindsey got 1st in prose and 2nd in poetry. 

Julian Montenegro got 4th in HI. 

Jackson McCann got 2nd HI. 

Kade Jensen got 3rd in HI. 

Payton Heideman and Nathan Bortnick got 3rd in Duet. 

Hailey Stanzel got 2nd in informative.

Averi Foster got 1st in Oration. 

Chris Johnson got 6th in poetry. 

Olivia Bowman got 3rrd in Prose. 

Elizabeth Martinez Bojorquez got 2nd in DI.