As the Wagner Oral Interp students headed down the road to the Region 2A Oral Interp Contest, you could feel the excitement in the air! This is the moment that they have worked so very hard for. This is the moment where all of their hard work will hopefully pay off. This is the moment that determines if they go to state! Anyone can just about imagine the high hopes and anticipation the students held as they were preparing for this meet.

When we arrived to Cedar Shores in Oakama, the students started off with some practice sessions; one more chance to make sure they had it all down just right. Then, the first round started at 10:30a.m. The day started out with Margaret Barnett giving her Poetry piece, "A Collection of PoemsfromBendingtheUniverse" by Justin Welch. Margaret had an amazing performance landing her first place at the meet and snagging her a spot at state. Next, Grant Namminga presented his incredibly humours piece, "Bein' Crazy." He kept the audience laughing and received first place for his amazing efforts; this got him a place at state. The last performance of the morning was an incredible performance by Margaret Barnett with her serious piece, "The Elephant Man." It was a tight contest in Serious and Margaret took home 4th place in that category.

The afternoon was divided into two separate sessions. The first session started with the duet performance given by Michelle Soukup and Kallen Kafka with their piece, "Sandwich Bags." Their perfection of this piece was obvious as they kept the audience laughing and took first place and will be moving onto state. Then, Olivia Breen took on the challenge of Storytelling with the theme, "Western Tales." Her piece was "Feival Goes West." Olivia had a wonderful performance placing fourth in her category. The final performance in this session was Jessica Kocer with her piece, "It's Not Easy, But It's Worth It." Jessica gave an inspirational speech and took second place. This wonderful performance gives her a spot at state in the Non-Original Oratory Category.

The final session of the day was the Reader's Theater Category. Students in this category include Michelle Soukup, Kallen Kafka, Ciara Nelson, Rose Eitemiller, Mackenzie Roberts and Michaela Kokes. The Wagner Raiders gave a funny take on The Saturday Night Live version of "Sticky Buns." They worked well together and took first place in this category giving them a place at the state meet.

With all of the amazing performances, the Raiders took first place at The Region Meet winning them the Region 2A Trophy. The team could not have been more proud. The students will be moving onto state held in Watertown, November 30-December 1. The Wagner Oral Interp Team is looking forward to finishing the season off right and placing superior or superior plus at state.