Road Trip!

Bronx Prep Speech Brings Twenty to Virginia as Program Continues its Expansion

Fairfax, VA - The BP Speech Team competed in the Patriot Games over the first weekend of December at the campus of George Mason University outside of Washington, D.C., fielding its biggest squad to date. Twelve students made up a whopping 33 entries while seven chaperones came along for the trip as well as one mascot, Siri Quarfordt.

The team competed in eight different events, with some students entered in as many as five events as they worked through an extremely long day of competition on Saturday. In the evening, the team gathered in one of its four hotel rooms to touch base and marvel at the growth that's come about this season. The names are too many to list, so shoutouts to the chaperones that donated an entire weekend of their time to supervise and judge for Bronx Prep: Ms. Melkonian, Ms. Wilson, Ms. Bryant, Ms. Rodriguez and her husband, Mr. Laboy all joined Mr. Simon and Ms. Q and are responsible for allowing the team to compete in so many events. Their committment over the weekend makes our progress possible.

The results? The team may have traded quantity for quality as only one of the thirty-three entries saw action past the preliminary rounds. It should be no surprise that that was senior and Team Manager, Chris Moncrief, a nationally-recognized speaker who reached the Semifinal round of Original Oratory, but was denied a spot in the Final Six for a second year in a row.

For the rest of the team, it's go time. The hiatus over the winter break is short and vital as the team prepares for competitions practically every weekend when school resumes. The raw elements are there: The Talent (never in question), The Coaching (now a staff of three with the addition of Ms. Sheridan Johnson), The Support (see the list of mad chaperones above), and The Pieces (have you heard about The Shipment...?). The only thing missing from this list is the one thing keeping the team from its most successful year yet: Hard Work. Focus, committment and practice, practice, practice will bring this squad to the next level. This is one blogger shooting for quality to match quantity when this expanding squad embarks on its next road trip.