Haines High’s Drama, Debate and Forensics team earned two first-place finishes at its home competition Oct. 24-25 when seven schools and more than 90 students debated and performed.
Team captain and senior Jennie Humphrey took first in Dramatic Interpretation for her performance of the spoken-word poem “A Finger, Two Dots, then Me” by Derrick Brown.
Coach Amanda Randles called the piece “amazing” and Humphrey’s delivery “spectacular.”
“It’s a love poem, of a sort, from one person to another, about how they will love the other even after death. Though it’s really a lot more than that. It’s about identifying what is sacred and holy in life,” Randles said.
Junior Neil Little took first in Humorous Interpretation for his piece “The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distance,” written and illustrated by the Internet comic The Oatmeal.
“It was extra challenging for (Little) because interpreting a very visual comic into a performance piece is a lot of work. I’m very impressed by how well he did it,” Randles said.
Junior Kai Hays and sophomore Rachel Haas placed second in Duo Interpretation for “The Complete Guide to Guys: Tips for Women” by Dave Barry. The piece involves a couple driving home from a date, with the audience privy to their wildly dissimilar thoughts.
Junior Kaya Ramirez took sixth for her Original Oration about the causes and possible solutions to rape culture in our society.
The meet was the first of the season for the “Glacier Bards,” as they were unable to travel to Sitka in September because of travel logistics.
Klukwan School senior Kaitlyn Stevens has also joined the team, bringing its total up to 11. “This was (Stevens’) first tournament and I expect once she is up to speed she will be doing quite well in competition. She has extraordinarily good instincts for performance,” Randles said.
The DDF team’s next competition is Nov. 14-15 in Wrangell.