Showcase of Talent

On February 5th, 2026, the Riverdale Speech Team hosted its 3rd annual Regional Showcase. Speech can be a hard activity to watch when the team travels hours away to compete once a week. So the speech team has put together the Regional Showcase the past few years to show family and friends what speech is all about.

The night started off with an introduction discussing what speech is about, along with a brief history of the team and what they hope to accomplish this year at the IHSA State Series. The regional showcase presents all 14 events that take part in the IHSA State Series. 

First, senior Michael Kelley, performed his Humorous Interpretation titled “How Tybalt Capulet (Almost) Saved Italy.” Humorous Interpretation is an event where performers select a published humorous script to cut, memorize and perform. The performer has multiple characters who they pop back and forth between to tell the story. 

Next they moved on to Radio Speaking where senior, Trey Stodardd, showed off his four years of experience in the event. Radio Speaking is the oral presentation of a newscast in which a student is given limited preparation time of forty-five (45) minutes to select, cut, and prepare to deliver an original five (5) minute broadcast of news stories and a commercial showing their knowledge of compiling provided stories. 

Moving on, senior Bella Baltisberger, performed her Dramatic Interpretation piece titled “The Good Mother.” Dramatic Interpretation is one person performing a dramatic script. Sometimes there are multiple characters, and sometimes performers do a monologue.  

Then, junior Carter Orr, showed his event: Impromptu Speaking, which is the oral presentation of a speech in which the competitor is given two minutes to select one topic from the three options they are given and prepare to deliver an original six minute speech showing their knowledge of abstract ideas concerning an assigned topic.

Next up, junior Claire Arnold, gave her Prose piece titled “Mourning Love.” Prose competitors select a piece of literature to cut to an appropriate performance time and perform the piece in a way that reveals meaning of the literature through both vocal delivery and movement. While their performance is memorized, competitors use an interpretation book for the performance as well, making connections back to the book, reminding the viewers that they are performing a piece of literature.

Following that, senior Yashvi Patel, shook it up with her public speaking performance in Special Occasion Speaking titled “People Against Wildlife…and Stuff.” Special Occasion Speaking is an original speech written by the competitor. The purpose of Special Occasion Speaking is to provide an opportunity for contestants to present a practical message in an entertaining manner under simulated “real-life” conditions organized around a central theme and designed to make a serious point through the use of humor.

Next, junior Ruby McClaine, presented her Oratorical Declamation. The purpose of Oratorical Declamation is to acquaint students with notable examples of persuasive or inspirational literature written and spoken by someone else and to provide competitors with the opportunity to develop skills of interpretation and delivery through the preparation and oral presentation of such examples. 

Finally, junior Shebly Hohenadel, wrapped up act one with her Poetry piece. Poetry is the oral interpretation of a poem or a collection of poems assembled into a unique program. Poetry competitors can creatively weave together multiple poems by multiple authors into a cohesive program centered on a theme. Like Prose, Poetry Speakers also perform using a black interpretation book.

The performers and audience took a quick 10 minute intermission, and then they were back to it with senior Co-Captains Caitlin Mumma and Caroline Kreiter performing their Humorous Duet Acting piece titled “Unfunny.” Two people partner up to perform a funny piece that we hope will get the audience laughing! In this event, competitors are allowed, if they choose, to use one table and two chairs for their performance. 

Next up Carter Orr impressed the audience again with his presentation in his event Extemporaneous Speaking which is the oral presentation of a speech on a selected topic of international or domestic issues in which a student is given a limited preparation time of thirty minutes to prepare an original seven minute speech. They are given three questions to choose from and are expected to answer the question with supporting evidence that they research during their prep time. 

Moving on, senior Aubrey McGinty informed the audience with her piece titled “The Art of Advertisement” in Informative Speaking. Which is an original speech written by the competitor with the purpose to educate the audience on a topic and explain why the topic is one the audience should know more about.

Then Bella Baltisberger and Claire Arnold wowed the audience with their performance piece titled “How Much I Love You” in Dramatic Duet Acting. It is one of two events where partners perform together. Like Humorous Duet Acting, they are allowed to use 1 table and 2 chairs for their performance.

Nearing the end, senior Amanda Shadrick, made her regional debut with her Original Oratory titled “Full Carts, Empty Lives.” Original Oratory is an original speech written by the competitor for persuading the audience. The competitors select a topic, a thesis, and find supporting material for their position. 

Finally, Michael Kelley wrapped up the night with some laughs and his Original Comedy titled “Decaffeinated.” Original Comedy is a comedic story written and performed by the competitor. Typically, Original Comedy has multiple characters being portrayed by the performer. So not only do they have to write the story, but they have to make clever and creative choices on how each character will speak, look, and respond to the other characters in the story.

The evening wrapped up with a thank you from the team and to their Coach Becky Butterfield. The speech team will compete at Regionals at Sterling High School on Saturday, February 5th, and then will move on to sectionals at Freeport High School the following Saturday.

By: Caitlin Mumma