This level of competition for the students gave them a much better idea on how to better prepare for next year’s event.
This year, three of our students in Dramatic Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking, and Poetry Reading advanced to the quarterfinals, one advanced to the semifinals in the Extemporaneous Speaking, and two came in 2nd place in the Story Telling category.
Our students competed with their more seasoned counterparts from the other states.
These U.S. students have gone through structured training or have been exposed to competitions in drama and public speaking.
Many have gone through auditions as well and that’s why these kids are so pro in what they do.
But this didn’t intimidate our kids despite the little butterflies they felt each time they faced their competitors.
The CNMI’s coordinators and coaches are now looking at a better local system for our representatives next year so they can be more confident and perform better.
Coming from tiny islands, we all should be very proud of our kids because they were able to face goliaths and still managed to perform well in their categories:
• Hye Young Oh of Marianas Baptist Academy reached the quarterfinals in Impromptu Speech;
• Mathew Lopez of Hopwood Jr. High School, quarterfinals in Dramatic Interpretation;
• Kanata Omori of MBA, semifinalist in Extemporaneous Speaking;
• Arianne Narvaez of GTC Elementary School, quarterfinalist in Poetry Reading;
• Darvhan Moses of Mount Carmel School, second place in Story Telling; and,
• Devonne Dotts, Calvary Christian Academy, second place in Story Telling.
It is with great honor that I thank the coaches, coordinators and the Public School System for their utmost support in taking care of the travel under the student competition funding.
The experience our group of students had will only bring home great memories for themselves and family members.
Their experiences will help them become more confident. In the CNMI, they will go out to other elementary and secondary schools to showcase their talents and skills to other interested students who may want to join this program.
All this will help them prepare to compete at next year’s MSFL and Thespian competitions.
The CNMI should be proud because these participants truly have lots of great potentials and are super talented students that I am sure will do well next year.
It is highly recommended that the schools hire drama instructors so the program will focus primarily on what the students need to do to better compete at the national level.
The students must memorize their piece and also act it out, and having a good teacher will help them elevate their skills.
Many thanks to the parents of these students for taking an active part in assisting their children with every resource possible to better prepare them for the competition.
Thank you Mr. Harold Easton, NFL board chairman, and Ms. Sara Rockey, NJFL coordinator, for their hard work in coordinating the many school-level competitions and organizing the national level competition in Des Moines, Iowa.
Thank you coaches and chaperones Lorna Liban, Teresita Zulaybar, Patricia Kapileo, Esther Manzano, Kristie Myhrum, Sara Rockhey, Jonas Barcinas and attorney and Mrs. Michael Dotts.
And thank you students: Ashley Ayuyu, Alina Ishikowa, Devonne Dotts, Dong Ha Lee, Kimiko Tenorio, Kimberly Camacho, Sang Hyuk (Kyle) Park, Darvhan Moses, Eron Constante and Kanata Omori.
(The writer is the principal of Hopwood Junior High School)