Brandon Valley High School Oral Interpretation

Oral interp is a competitive public speaking activity coached by Gina Koehn Reif and Caitlyn Schwebach. Competitive events include Humor, Drama, Duo, Readers Theatre, Poetry, NonOriginal Oratory, Original Oratory, Program of Interpretation, Informative, and Storytelling. The team competes at tournaments most weekends October through February with the season culminating in the SDHSAA State Interp Festival in December and the NSDA National Qualifying Tournament in February. We are excited to be hosting our second Speaking Lynx Invitational at BVHS in October. You can follow the team on facebook -- search for BVHS Speaking Lynx.

In March 2022, Ian Candy placed 5th and Amina Koch placed 6th, both in Informative Speaking, at the SDHSAA State Debate and IE Tournament at Harrisburg HS.

In December 2021, the Speaking Lynx participated in the SDHSAA State Interp Festival in Huron. BVHS received 7 Superiors in 7 Events! Two of those Superiors earned perfect scores, and BVHS earned a Team Excellence Award. Members of the State Interp Team were Aiden Kasten, Tara Rolph, Rachael Spencer, Ellen Joseph, Hannah Hageman, Isaac Fode, Ian Candy, Ben Livingston, and Bergen Christensen.

BVHS participates in the National Speech and Debate Association. In February, BVHS qualified 3 students in 2 events and 2 students in supplemental events for the National Tournament which was held in Louisville, Kentucky, this year. Ellen Joseph qualified in Drama and Ian Candy and Amina Koch in Informative Speaking; Kaylee Willard was an alternate in POI. Tara Rolph and Katherine Watkins competed in supplemental events. Tara advanced to Octafinals in Prose. Ellen advanced to the top 60 in Drama, quarterfinals in Poetry, and semifinals in Prose. She finished 8th in the nation in that category!