The theater program, one aspect of the fine arts department and the theater

teacher Mallory Bryant-Gawne has been reviving the poetry and prose, or interpretation team for UIL, since she became a staff member last year has been working on reviving it.

“Poetry and prose are important to the theater department and help a performer develop emotion and keep composure when acting, and they allow for development of skills that can be very useful,” Bryant-Gawne said.

These teams help students’ acting skills. A student must not only memorize an excerpt, a poem for poetry, but they must interpret them and add meaning to the otherwise meaningless text. Gawne teaches the team members to do this task as she does her theater classes, and the trouble and work her students endure is showing.

“We’ve been to five tournaments this year, and in all but one, at least one person advance to finals and placed,” Bryant-Gawne said.

The teams compete in Teach For America competitions and National Speech and Debate Association competitions. The tournaments help the students practice and gain points for when the teams compete in the University Interscholastic League competition in May.

“I’m confident that we’ll succeed, but we have work to do until May,” Bryant- Gawne said.