Today, I was a judge at a speech meet in Fosston. Twenty-three years ago, I was a young whipper snapper in seventh grade. I was in Storytelling - the category. I was struck how these kids looked just like us. They were us.
Back in the olden days, We had our draw and were sent off to practice. We went to various corners throughout whatever school and reviewed our stories - and practiced our stories to which ever wall we were around. And we did this because it was fun?
I ended up judging Prose Novice - which is basically "Stuff That Makes Junior High Students Cry" category. There were a lot of sad speeches that scared the crap out of me.
The next category I judged was Informative. I learned a lot. One girl even sounded like she was on MPR.
And of course, I got to judge Storytelling. After being in Storytelling, I can tell you one thing. You can do anything. If you go in front of a snippy judge with glasses down to her nose - and make all those funny voices - you can get up in front of any crowd and say anything.
After turning in my score cards, I went home. I needed to get home to my kids and J.Bird. I'd have loved to stay and remember the excitement of the awards ceremony. To see if I got an excellent or a placement. To see if that cute speech boy noticed me.
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