The North Platte High School Speech Team is hoping to build on the success it had last year this winter. This year, district boundaries have been redrawn. Senior Breanna Patterson said, “Our new district [includes a lot of schools] in the eastern part of the state, so it will be a learning experience to adjust to the new competition.” Even with the redistricting, senior Kiersten Lange said, “I’m looking forward to improving as a result of the new competition, as well as helping the incoming novice group.” The novice group consists of newcomers to the speech. “I love the people of speech and meeting all the great people from out of town. They’re a very accepting group of people because everyone is so outgoing,” said Lange. “I’m hoping to have only 12 panic attacks throughout the season instead of the 12 I had each competition last year,” said junior Kinzey Cooper. “Speech is very stressful, but in the end it’s worth it,” Cooper said. The speech team’s first competition is Dec. 17 in Cozad.