The Haines High School Drama, Debate and Forensics team had an impressive showing at its first meet in Sitka last weekend with seven pieces that placed in finals. More than half of the DDF members are new to competition.
The DDF team took 10 students to Mount Edgecumbe High School to compete against kids from Thunder Mountain High School in Juneau, Sitka High School, Ketchikan High School, Wrangell High School and Mount Edgecumbe.
Seven out of Haines’ seventeen total entries placed in finals: Mori Hays and Keegan Palmieri took first place in Pantomime with “Gone Fishing”; Rachel Haas, Tiaya Ruggirello, and Xi Xiao “Max” White took fourth place in Reader’s Theater with “Don’t Do Drugs”; Kayleigh Fisher and Rebecca Wheeler took fourth place in Duo Interpretation with a Theodore Roethke poem; Haas took sixth place in Dramatic Interpretation with “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Poe; Ruggirello took third place in Humorous Interpretation with “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie; Palmieri took fourth place in Humorous Interpretation with “50 Shades of Chicken”; and White took sixth in Humorous Interpretation with “A Journey Through My Colon” by Dave Berry.
Coach Amanda Randles said she did not expect the team to do as well as it did. Five of the Haines competitors were freshmen, and six were new to DDF.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had that many pieces go to finals at the first tournament,” Randles said. This is Randles’ fourth year coaching the team. She is assisted by her son and volunteer coach, Riyan Stossel.
Randles said DDF members learn how to speak publicly and effectively to get a message across in front of an audience. Randles said DDF often brings in students with a variety of interests because they can express themselves in many different formats from traditional forms of speaking to acting.
Although this first meet was successful, Randles said it’s still hard to predict how the students will perform as the season progresses. The kids work on pieces for a six-month season through the end of February for the state championships at East Anchorage High School. Six students went to the state competition last year.
The next meet with be in Haines on Nov. 4-5. Randles said she is looking for judges and housing for the visiting teams. The debate topic for the Haines meet will be about the recent cut to the permanent fund dividend. “It should be a good one for people to come judge and learn more from kids who’ve done their homework,” Randles said.
The following two meets are in Ketchikan in December and Juneau in January.