Weekends, for most high school students, are a time for going to movies, hanging out with friends or doing homework.

However, for a dedicated and growing number of LHS students, weekends include boarding a bus before dawn, taking long drives and talking to walls.

The Oral Interp team has always had a strong voice in the National Forensic League (NFL), but this year the team set a new precedent by ranking 15th out of over 3000 schools nationwide. This rank is based on student participation and excellence in speech and debate activities. A team’s rank is measured by points and degrees, the latter of which ccorresponds to the jewelling pattern of an NFL pin which the degree-holder is authorized to wear. The team is also ranked fourth in the nation for new members and degrees. Last year the team achieved over 400 degrees last year based on their performances at various tournaments throughout the season and is now a member of the Societe’ De 400, one of the NFL’s most prestigious honors.

“The team continues to impress me and surprise me with their successes,” coach Bryan Hagg said. “We’ve always had a tradition of excellence and our achievements display that. This is the first year we’ve been ranked this high and I believe it’s due to our high participation and the high success of each teammate.”

Their road to success hasn’t been an easy one. The team practices every weekday after school as a team, but individual practices continue even after members have left the school for the day. Committing themselves to perfecting their pieces consumes a lot of time, but the team is usually rewarded for their efforts at each tournament.

“Our success as LHS Interp is due solely to the fact that people love and believe in this activity and instill that in others,” team captain Pilar Williams said.

As the adage “practice makes perfect” goes, the team’s dedication to their work paid off at the state Oral Interp tournament that was held Dec. 4 and 5. Receiving the highest rating of superior in all seven categories of competition, the team could not have performed better. For the first time in five years, all seven entries from LHS took straight superior ratings from all 21 judges. The team also earned their 43rd State Team Excellence Award for their performances.

“It’s really rewarding to see everyone do so well at each tournament,” team captain Gracie Chang said. “We spend so much time together working on pieces and perfecting them because it not only helps us perform better, but it also brings us closer together as a team,”

Many members of the LHS Oral Interp team have been together throughout their entire high school careers and have become very close to their teammates. Most of the new members also feel very welcomed among the veteran members and can attest to the friendliness of everyone.

“One of the things I really like about Oral Interp is all the new friends you meet through the program and how close you become to everyone. It also helps you become a much more confident public speaker which is a really good life skill to have,” team captain Tessa Crosby said.

Even though the team aims to perform its best at each tournament, the program is also dedicated to teaching other life skills – communication, research, listening, writing, and organization – to a large student body. And although the team is known for “talking to walls,” their achievements and actions speak for themselves.