Orono speech team boasts middle school national champ

Oliver Berg, a seventh-grader from Orono’s Speech Team, was crowned Middle School National Champion in Storytelling at the National Speech and Debate Association’s 2024 National Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.

Berg, a student at Delano Middle School, competes on the Orono team as a result of a cooperative agreement between the Orono and Delano school districts which allows Delano students in grades 7-12 to compete on the Orono Speech team, since Delano does not have a speech program.

Berg had a stellar first season, placing 8th in the State tournament in Creative Expression this season. Berg is Orono’s second Middle School National Champion in Storytelling in the last three years; Maya Haugen won that title in 2022.

Also competing at Nationals were Madeleine Dore in Humorous Interpretation, McKenna Monger in Dramatic Interpretation, and Maya Haugen in Storytelling, a supplemental category. Both Monger and Haugen broke to Octafinals.