For teens, it's, like, talking to the wall

Most of the competitors are more excited than nervous.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- They roamed the halls and talked to walls.
It wasn't a typical day at Boardman High School. Nearly 1,000 students from 150 schools and about 300 coaches and judges were merely preparing for their roles in the 74th Ohio Speech League State Tournament.
Friday's preliminary rounds were closed to all but competitors and judges, but there was a good sampling of what the students have to offer in the 12 competitive categories as they rehearsed their routines.
Today's competition is open to the public.
Unusual exercise: Canfield High School coach Shelly Elia said all students want to do their best, and practicing in front of a wall helps.
There was a time when talking to a wall might have been considered delusional, but Elia explained: "This is one of the highest points for these kids, because they worked really hard just to qualify for this.
"Most students get ready by talking to the walls; it's kind of a tradition."
Virtually every wall in the area around the performing arts center in the high school was taken, but three girls from Austintown Fitch High School found a small corner in which they each took turns running through their routines.
One girl at a time would stand before the wall and rehearse -- complete with dramatic hand motions and voice inflection -- while the others watched. When the routine was complete, the girl would turn and anxiously ask her friends, "How was that?"
The Austintown group -- seniors Shannon Murphy and Shannon Wensyel and junior Staci MacDougall -- all in their second year of competition, said they are more excited than nervous.
Much practicing: Elia said Canfield is represented by 17 students, who have practiced all year and given up every Saturday to make it to the state championship.
One of them, freshman Jarid Faubel, is a Lincoln-Douglas debater, a category in which students argue moral and value issues of the world. Faubel said that it's strange being at the competition as a freshman, but that he's not nervous during the competition.
Sarah Davison, Poland Seminary High School's Lincoln-Douglas debate coach, said there are nine Poland students in competition, three of whom -- two seniors and a junior -- are in the debate for the first time.
Poland's Jim Johnston is in the foreign Extemporaneous category, in which students draw questions about foreign affairs and are given 30 minutes to write a response. He said the competition does not allow for bad nerves.
"The most nervous I will be is when we are waiting to hear the results," he said.
A group of friends, Danielle Tabor and Nicholas Verina, both of Niles McKinley, and Dana Delorenzo of Boardman, stood in the hallway talking.
Verina is in the humorous interpretation competition, where he must re-enact a scene from a play. Tabor and Delorenzo do dramatic interpretation from a play or other published work.
"This is more fun than cut-throat competition," said Delorenzo. "We are rooting for each other all the way."
Others competing: Besides Niles, Boardman and Austintown, all of which have dominated speech competition for years, local high schools in the tournament are Girard, Howland, Liberty, Lisbon, Mooney, Ursuline, Warren Harding, Warren JFK, West Branch and Wilson.
The tournament concludes with an awards ceremony tonight at 8.