"Last year we made sectionals This year we're aiming for state," exclaimed Mr. Douglas Blatt, sponsor of various aspects of oral communication at Maine West.

Speech Club, a vital part of oral communication here at Maine, is preparing for the State Speech Contest which will take place in March next year. Participants aspire to surpass last year's efforts in which Maine West placed in the district and sectional finals. This year Speech Club hopes to compete at the state finals which will be held at Normal, Illinois.

Every Saturday Speech Club engages in tournaments consisting of presentations of original material and oral interpretation. Original material tournaments are comprised of studentcomposed, creative and humorous after dinner speeches and general oration, or persuasive speech. Oral interpretation involves selecting serious and humorous cuttings from plays, prose, and verse and giving the student's opinions and interpretation of the particular work he analyzes.

On October 25, various members of Speech Club and Debate will participate in a workshop to be held at Oak Park‑River Forest.

Following this workshop, on November 2 the speech team will compete in the first contest of the year at Niles North High School.

Other contests will be held later in the year at Wheaton, John Hersey, Arlington Heights. Waukegan, Rockford, Ottawa, West Leyden, Homewood-Flossmore, East Leyden, and Oak Lawn high schools. Maine West, will host a contest on February 1.

A Readers' Theater group and selected members of Speech Club will participate in an overnight trip to Illinois State University at Normal, Illinois, where they will compete in various speech activities.

This year's Speech Club officers include: Diane Franzen '69, president; Rich Wilson '69, vicepresident; Diane Clarke '69, secretary; and Dan Campagna '69, National Forensic League representative.

Another integral aspect of student communication is Maine West's radio station WMTH. WMTH broadcasts programs organized by members of the Radio/TV classes every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 3 to 4 p.m. In addition, pregame shows and play‑byplay shows for home games are broadcast for and by the students.