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Holy Redeemer’s top orators polish up their skills and head for national competition.
Matt Klimuszka, Frank Serra, Jen Manganello and Kaley Stasko of Holy Redeemer’s Catholic Forensic League debate team.
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
Matt Klimuszka of Holy Redeemer High School’s Catholic Forensic League debate team.
PETE G. WILCOX/THE TIMES LEADER
WILKES-BARRE – It might seem a tad odd for a Catholic school student to speak out against conformity, what with the uniforms they wear. And practicing how to cry when you’re not sad isn’t a typical after-class activity. But this is the kind of group where one student can say “Do the undie bomber” and get the straight-faced — and more importantly, perfectly articulated — answer: “You mean Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab?”
That would be the man accused of trying to blow up an airplane by smuggling the explosive in his briefs. And the fact that Holy Redeemer High School senior Matt Klimuszka can rattle off such a foreign name the way peers rattle of sports stars is one reason he and three schoolmates are heading to Omaha, Neb., in May.
They excel at “forensics,” known better to most of us as “speech and debate,” and they were among 40 students in 11 counties who did so well in the Catholic Forensics League of Scranton regional competition they qualified for the Grand National Tournament.
Matt, 18, specializes in “extemporaneous speaking” (“I did student congress, but the rules were so convoluted,” he notes). He is given a topic with only 30 minutes to prepare a speech. The breadth of possible topics is so vast he has to know how to pronounce a very wide range of often obscure words.
“It can be anything; the economy in Thailand, South American politics,” the Wilkes-Barre native said. “I have to live and breathe the news.”
“How many people can correctly pronounce Ahmadinejad?” teammate Karley Stasko asked, referring to the president of Iran. “Hanging around with Matt, I learn about the world.” Then with a laugh she adds, “Thanks to him I know more about politics than some teachers.”
Karley, 17, competes in original oratory, as does Frank Serra, 18. “You pick a topic you feel passionately about and give either an informational or persuasive speech,” Frank explained. “I did one on conformity, how it is bad for us as individuals and as society.” School uniforms the exception, of course.
His very effective example: The Salem witch trials. “There’s a case where one small group of people convinced an entire society witches exist and were bad,” the senior from Hanover Township said.
While it is similar to Matt’s forte, original oratory doesn’t involve a last-minute surprise. Participants know their topic and their speech long before arriving at the competition. That means, unlike Matt, they don’t need to tote a laptop holding a whopping 800,000 files of information on issues from around the globe to each event.
The fourth national contender from Holy Redeemer, Jen Manganello, found her forensic niche in oral interpretation of literature – OI for short. “You give the illusion of reading” while conveying the emotion of the characters. “In OI you have to do some crazy things, you yell, or act incredibly sad when you’re not feeling that way at all.”
Which, the 17-year-old from Exeter added, helps develop self-confidence.
Karley concurred. “It is so building for me, you develop the ability to break down any argument; you can fully follow people in a conversation. It not only builds your confidence, it builds your own abilities.”
How does one get into speech and debate?
“I did what we call baby forensics” at St. Nicholas/St. Mary elementary school, Karley said. That was four or five grades ago for the junior from Warrior Run. Once the bug bit, she kept at it.
Matt admits he’s “always been opinionated” and comfortable with public speaking. Frank got into it pretty much on a dare, when Matt suggested he attend a meeting of the team. And Jen confessed it was one of only a few extra-curricular options at Sacred Heart Elementary, where she also did “baby forensics.”
The high school version is much more complicated, with more events and more rules, but worth it, all agreed.
“It is incredibly stressful and really hard,” Matt said, “but we love doing it, and there are a lot of interesting people we meet.”
“I’m so excited about nationals,” Jen bubbled, “I had a dream about it!”
Are any of them planning careers involving public speaking? Well, not quite. Matt’s considering physics and engineering, while Frank is a self-admitted math geek (president of the school math club) looking at possible actuarial work. Karley will “hopefully be an English major” and eventually a teacher. And Jen? “I’m very interested in law, and I might try to become a naval officer.”
Oh, you mean like Tom Cruise facing off against Jack Nicholson in “A Few Good Men: “I want the truth!” “You can’t handle the truth!”
She smiles politely, conceding she doesn’t get the reference. After all, she was 10 when the movie came out.
National forensic contenders
The Catholic Forensic League of Scranton is open to all schools in the 11-county Diocese of Scranton. Other competitors who qualified for the Grand National Tournament May 28-30 are:
Caroline Bandurska from MMI in declamation; Merideth McGrath and Gen Philbin from Scranton High School in dramatic performance; Oladayo Osuntokun from Abington Heights High School and Kevin Watters from Meyers High School in extemporaneous speaking; Ashley Novak from Abington Heights in Lincoln/Douglas debate; Jennifer Momenzadeh from Crestwood High School in oral interpretation of literature; Allison Durkin from Scranton Prep in original oratory; Cindy Bi, Charles Jie, Amelia Oon and Deven Scanlon, all Abington Heights, in student congress; and three teams from Meyers in policy debate – Morgen Casterline and Melinda Formola, Abby McManus and John Snyder, and Gabby Richards and Tommy Lovecchio
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