Five of the eight Talk Hawk members were participating in their first ever Forensics Tournament. No they are not Crime Scene Investigators but LPC students participating in a public speaking contest.
The Las Positas College Forensics team, Talk Hawks, is doing well in tournaments. This year most, if not all, of the Talk Hawks are new to the team but continuing the great track record the Talk Hawks have.
During the Pandemic all individual and team practice sessions, instruction and coaching have been solely online. Since March 2020 the Forensics tournaments are being conducted virtually online.
The first tournament of the semester was held the weekend of Sep 19/20. The Talk Hawks placed ninth overalls of the 19 schools in the tournament, seven of the schools participating are 4 year colleges.
Talk Hawks won first place in the Team Sweepstakes. Alejandra Quezada-Sermeno in her first tournament ever, received second place in Novice Impromptu and third place in Prose Interpretation. In impromptu speaking the competitor is given a quotation to use as the topic of their speech. Impromptu speaking is known for its uniquely short preparation time, competitors are given 7 minutes to both prepare and give their speech.
Row 1 (Top) Brennan Mock-(Coach/Helper). Jim Dobson-Coach, Rameesha Muhammad, Casey Hamilton-Coach/Helper)
Row 2 (Middle) Marius Mayer, Nez Hasanly, Alejandra Quezada-Sermeno, Natalie Kellner-Coach
Ashley Eastman also in her first tournament, placed second in the Communication Analysis division. Communication analysis is an original speech centered on the evaluation of a communication event.
Danny Georgiev placed second in Prose Interpretation. Prose interpretation features the performance of a prose piece of significant literary merit.
Nez Hasanly, also her first tournament placed second in after dinner speaking. After dinner speaking is an original, humorous speech centered on a single theme or subject.
This fall 2020 semester team is following in the footsteps of the outstanding performance of last year’s team. A Synchronous National Championship and an Asynchronous Championship were held in the spring semester, Las Positas College won both events. Brannan Mock, a past member of the Talk hawks and now a volunteer coach was named the top Limited Preparation speaker and top Public Address speaker at the awards ceremony.
The second tournament of the season was held the weekend of Sep 26/27. Las Positas team finished sixth of the thirty teams in the competition, of which 22 are four years colleges. In this tournament Hasanly finished first in Novice After Dinner Speaking, Georgiev finished first in Novice Prose Interpretation.
Alexis Bondarenko finished sixth in Varsity Information and was the top novice. Informative speeches are the teaching speeches. Students are encouraged to find topics about new medical break throughs, technological advances, or a growing social concern. Students must research and include a minimum of ten source cites in each speech. What makes this placing special is that Bondarenko is a high school student attending LPC as part of the Middle College program.
The Talk Hawks are coached by Professors James Dobson and Natalie Kellner, assisted by past team members volunteer coaches Brannan Mock and Casey Hamilton.
Alan Lewis is the photo editor of The Express. Follow him @alolewis1.
