Team CNMI performs in NJSDA showcase

Members and coaches of the CNMI National Junior Speech and Debate Association team pose for photos after Sunday’s showcase at the American Memorial Park theater. (Jon Perez)

The National Junior Speech and Debate Association CNMI team gave a taste of what they would be presenting next month at the national finals, performing a showcase last Sunday at the American Memorial Park theater.

The 14-member CNMI team will be competing for the 11th straight year in the 2018 NJSDA national finals from June 18 to 22 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Dandan Middle School student Jonathan Wolf is going for a third straight title when he teams up with brother Lars in Duo Interpretation. He previously won in declamation in 2016 (Birmingham, Alabama) and in prose last year in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Wolf brothers gave a lively performance of excerpts from the Disney movie A Bug’s Life, drawing laughs from the crowd.

Western Pacific Region-National Forensic League board member Angela Wheat, in her opening remarks, said they have been helping the team with their pieces to become better prepared for the nationals.

“The kids had been around with us and we’ve been training these students at a young age. We had our successes and Jonathan Wolf, who had been with us since the sixth grade, made history for the CNMI. Now they know where the CNMI is,” said Wheat. “You will be the ambassadors of the CNMI. This is not only for yourselves but also for your families, school, friends, and the entire CNMI.”

WPR-NFL president Harold Easton assured parents that the 14 students will be taken cared of in their trip. “I assure you that proper transportation will be provided and they will be ushered to the sequence of events.”

“They will also be properly chaperoned. We will make sure the kids will have a good time in the competition where they would get to meet other students from the other states,” added Easton.

DMS has the most number of team members, with twins Oceana (poetry reading) and Issa Teigita (prose reading), and Juliet Inocencio (declamation), while Vivien Lu (extemporaneous speech), and brothers Redge (humorous interpretation) and Radge Palma (dramatic interpretation) are from Hopwood Middle School.

Patreisha Concillado (impromptu speech) and Elaine Fernandez (prose reading) are from Francisco M. Sablan Middle School and Cerinna Hwang (Lincoln-Douglas debate) and Dane Hodges (storytelling) are from Saipan International School.

Christian Pamintuan (original oratory) is from Green Meadows School and Jill Anne Mallari (poetry) is from Mt. Carmel School.

Concillado and Hodges were the only CNMI team members that failed to show up in Sunday’s showcase.

Kristine Wolf (DMS), Maria Mettao and Marylou Dejillas (FMS), Lorelisa Espiritu (GMS), Victoria Nishida (HMS), Criselda Aldan (MCS), and Cary Betoncini (SIS) are the CNMI NJSDA national coaches.