Speech
The purpose of the Speech activities is to participate in eleven individual speaking events sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League. The events sanctioned by the league are: Original Oratory, Great Speeches, Extemporaneous Speaking, Discussion, Extemporaneous Reading, Storytelling, Creative Expression, Humorous Interpretation of Prose, Serious Interpretation of Poetry, and Serious Interpretation of Drama. The members of the speech team attend speech festivals, subregional and regional contests, and state competitions.

One Act Play
St. Croix Prep’s entry into this year’s Minnesota State High School League One-Act Contest will be “The Insanity of Mary Girard” by Lanie Roberts.

The play is based on the true story of one of the richest and most powerful men in the 18^th century America and his much younger wife. “The Insanity of Mary Girard” provides a chilling glimpse into a time when husbands held absolute control and power over their wives, an abusive medieval system of treating the mentally ill, and a time where wealth and power could be abused in terrifying and almost unimaginable ways.

This innovative and highly dramatic portrayal of a perfectly sane woman cast into a mental institution for the rest of her life will leave the audience speechless and spellbound as they descend with Mary into the nightmarish world of insanity. Acting students are now applying what they’ve learned in class and have already auditioned. Performances are scheduled for January 31^st and February 1^st. If the cast is one of the two best plays on February 1^st they will move on to East Central (Sandstone, MN) on Saturday, February 7^th for the Section 4A Tournament where the winner of that eight school event will represent Section 4A in this year’s State Festival which is held on February 12^th and 13^th at the College of St. Catherine’s.