Gillett students participate in state forensics contest

The Gillett High School forensics team of 28 students recently completed a successful season. The team participated in the Marinette & Oconto Conference meet in Wausaukee on Feb. 3. Maya Breed, Brittany Fetterly and Ray Brock received perfect scores and gold medals. Gillett hosted the SubDistrict Festival with Lena and Oconto on Feb. 24. The district competition took place in Tomahawk and Marinette in March. Participants who received two or three scores of 20 or better advanced to the state competition in Madison. Seventeen students from Gillett High School traveled to Madison on April 11 and 12 to participate in the state event at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Students who scored a perfect 25 of 25 points received a gold medal and the Critics Choice Award. Four students from Gillett earned this honor: Kasey Wilson, performing a prose selection called “The Freedom Writers” and Joe Karls, Dylan Pratsch and Tristen Wolske, in a group interpretation category titled “Mr. Twit’s Revenge.” Silver medals and the All-State Award were given to students who scored a 23 or 24: Renee Duffeck, Mahrea Milhans, Maya Breed, Brittany Fetterly, Lisa Schmidt, Karissa Rasmussen, Brianna Lemirande, Jacob Kasten and Skyler Simpson. Bronze medals and the Finalist Award were given to students who scored a 21 or 22: Matt Vorpahl, Crystal Mahrol, Jacob Timm and Raymond Brock. The Gillett forensics team, coached by Tami McQuillan and Stephanie Spang, traveled to Madison with the Lena High School forensics team and its coach, Beth Zingler.