Of these tremendous numbers, John Edward M. Elenzano of Saipan’s Mount Carmel School was able to rise to the top in the Storytelling division and bring home the gold.
Kids from around the world, although primarily the mainland, must compete and win on the local, district, state, and regional levels in order to gain eligibility to compete in the national competition
Elenzano competed and came out victorious at the NFL National Tournament in Dallas, Texas this past month.
When the judges announced his triumph, Elenzano says, “It was too much. I didn’t know what to do. I was just staring at everyone giving me the award. I was speechless.”
The champion has been involved with the performing arts in the forms of plays, the Primary Grade Forensic Conference, the National Junior Forensic League and the NFL since the second grade.
“It started out as an extracurricular activity to gain extra credit for class but even after the teachers stopped offering extra credit, I still continued. I got addicted to it,” he shares.
His favorite part of it all, he says is, “learning from others and then using those learning experiences to better my own performances. It’s fun. I take certain acts, such as their styles and techniques, and incorporate them into my pieces.”
Elenzano has been blessed with an extremely supportive family.
He shares how in the beginning, his mother was his personal coach. Furthermore, his father was always present at his competitions, and in regards to his younger sister who has also been active in NJFL and NFL, Elenzano says, “Even though we were rivals, we helped each other.”
He defines NFL as so much more than just a speech competition.
“It’s a great learning experience. Everyone should take advantage of it to better their skills in speech, forensics, and debate. I’m really going to miss it.”
When asked how it felt to watch his competitors in the states, Elenzano humbly answers, “I honestly thought that the girl that got second and boy that got third were better than me. The boy really made the audience laugh and that intimidated me.”
Having just graduated from Mount Carmel High School, Elenzano hopes to “get into the Air Force,” he tells Variety.
“My first plan is to try to get a recommendation letter for the academy.”
After a career in the military, Elenzano looks forward to retiring and maybe teaching and coaching performing arts on Saipan.
