This year Noah decided to join the Guardians, which is a local speech and debate club that is part of NCFCA (National Christian Forensics and Communication Association). I never dreamed that it would become such a big part of our school year. Noah competed in tournaments in Memphis, Cleveland, Asheville and Baton Rouge. Noah prepared an illustrated oratory on Lego and a humorous interp of The Frog Prince Continued. He qualified for regionals in both of his speeches, and only missed qualifying for nationals by one spot! Now he has been bit by the speech and debate bug and is planning on competing this next year in platform speech, interpretive speech, team policy debate and apologetics.
We both had a great time at the tournaments, which were intense 3-day events. At least one parent must attend with each competitor, and the parents serve as judges along with judges from the community. Competition begins each day at 7:30 am and ends at about 9:30 pm. Fortunately, Noah loved getting to know the other members of our team - even getting a best friend in the process!
The kids hang out and relax between speech rounds. That's one of Noah's favorite parts.
I enjoyed hanging out with other Moms, too, and made some great new friends. At the regional invitational in Baton Rouge, there was a banquet at a plantation where most of the kids dressed up in period costume. Not me, however. Noah informed me that he would find that embarrassing.
If you are interested in watching Noah's speeches, they each take about 10 min.
