Success, satisfaction and accomplishment at Speech Arts Days

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Submitted by Leanne Teichrib

Day one of the Gladstone Music and Arts Festivals is complete! The Speech Arts day of the Gladstone Festival marks the beginning of festival season for the area.  

Wednesday, March 4 was kicked off with a great variety of wonderful, prepared performances. Participants and spectators enjoyed a full day of poetry, public speaking, speech choirs, prose reading and Readers Theater. The great and wonderful thing about all music and speech festivals is that it gives an opportunity for students, teachers and parents to glean from the experience of a talented adjudicator who has years of experience in performance and teaching. 

This year at Gladstone it was no different, as we again welcomed Mrs. Loretta Thorleifson from Manitou. Loretta has taught music and performance for years at Garden Valley Collegiate and is extremely involved in her community promoting music as well as speech arts. She was so positive and encouraging to all the participants and her words helped to gently push the students to keep speaking and performing. 

Gladstone Music and Arts Festival had many, many talented entries in the Speech program this year.  We were pleased to welcome several first time performers. All grade levels were represented which was very satisfying. Two  students, participating in the Junior High grade 7-9 level have been recommended to compete in the Provincial Speech Festival. Sonya Strocen from William Morton Collegiate was given that honor for Prose Reading and Solo Poetry. In  Public and Impromptu Speaking, Sydney Strocen from Langruth Elementary School was selected.  Both girls will compete in Winnipeg in May. 

The following is a list of students and school classes who won in their categories: Broddi Bjarnarson (Gladstone)– Public Speaking Grade 7-9;  Madison Teichroeb (Langruth)- Public Speaking Grade 4-5 ; Sydney Strocen (Langruth)- Improptu Public Speaking Grade 7-9 – receiving the W.J. MacGregor Trophy; Quinten Trites (Gladstone) – Solo Poetry Grade k-2 – receiving the R.K.Reid Trophy; Sonya Strocen (WMCI)– Solo Spoken Poetry Grade 7-9 - receiving the Hammond Cup; Lauren Armstrong (Langruth)– Solo Spoken Poetry Grade 4-6 – receiving the Fleck Family Trophy; Sydney Strocen (Langruth)– Solo Prose Reading Grade 7-9.; Madison Teichroeb (Langruth) – Solo Prose Reading Grade 4-6 – receiving The Woodside Baseball Trophy; Brooke Reimer (Plumas) – Solo Proses Reading Grade k-3; Lauren Armstrong and Taylor Kennedy (Langruth) – Poetry Duet grade 3 and 4; Robin Semler and Zephania Canate (Gladstone) – Poetry Duet Grade 5 and 6 – receiving The Lorelle Reid Trophy; Gladstone Elementary School Grade 2 – Speech Choir k-2 – receiving the Dorothy Blair Trophy; MacGregor Elementary School Grade 5-6 – received the Laura Wood Trophy; Adrienne Driedger, Shalyssa Sawatzky, Kaylee Reimer and Alicia Smart(Austin) – Readers Theater Grade 5-9 ; Hayley McCaskill and Hannah Sollner (WMCI)– Readers Theater Grade 10-12; Skyler Winters (Gladstone)– Original Story – received the Albert Watson Family award; Christyn Blondeau(Gladstone) – Original Poem Grade 7-9; Chloe Reimer (Gladstone) – Original Poem Grade k-6 – receiving the Gladstone Chamber of Commerce Trophy

The Gladstone Music and Arts festival continues on April 15 with the Band Festival, April 22 and 23 with Coral/Vocal and April 27 and 28 with Piano/Violin/guitar.

The Gladstone Music and Arts Festival is a venue given to this community by volunteers who are passionate about expanding learning opportunities for all of our students.  The value of speech arts training is lost on no one; leaders and those who make positive changes in this world do so because they know how to communicate. All the students, teachers, parents and those who came to give moral support at the Speech Arts Festival already know the benefits.