2026 SCJFL October Middle School Speech Tournament

Online - Oct 2 | Status: Completed | 5:35 AM Pacific

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Tournament Time: 5:35 AM Pacific
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  A. Open Sightreading Event Prompts

Round 1

  1. Speaker 1


    Prompt 1: The Lighthouse Keeper For nearly forty years, Arthur Bell had climbed the same narrow staircase every evening. At the top waited the great lamp of the Harbor Point Lighthouse, overlooking a rocky stretch of coastline where storms could turn calm water dangerous within minutes. Arthur knew every stair that creaked and every window that rattled when the wind blew from the north. Most importantly, he knew that sailors depended on the light above him. One November evening, a storm arrived earlier than expected. Heavy rain struck the lighthouse windows, and waves crashed against the rocks below. Arthur had just lit the lamp when he noticed something unusual. The light flickered once, then twice, and suddenly went dark. Arthur hurried to inspect the equipment. A damaged gear had stopped the mechanism that rotated the lamp. Without the moving light, ships approaching the harbor might not recognize the warning until they were dangerously close to shore. The replacement gear was stored in a small building outside the lighthouse. Arthur looked through the window. The storage building stood only fifty yards away, but between him and the door were powerful winds and sheets of rain. He could wait for the storm to weaken, but every minute without the light increased the danger. Arthur pulled on his heavy coat and opened the lighthouse door. The wind nearly knocked him backward. Holding tightly to the railing, he slowly crossed the wet ground, retrieved the replacement gear, and returned to the lighthouse. His hands shook from the cold as he installed the new part. For several tense minutes, nothing happened. Then the mechanism moved. Above him, the great lamp began turning again. Arthur stepped to the window and watched its beam sweep across the dark water. Far in the distance, a ship answered with a blast from its horn. Arthur smiled. Tomorrow he would repair the equipment properly and probably complain about his aching knees. Tonight, however, the lighthouse was shining. And somewhere beyond the storm, someone was depending on it.

  2. Speaker 2


    Prompt 2: Why We Still Need Boredom Most people dislike being bored. The moment nothing interesting is happening, we often reach for a phone, turn on a television, play a game, or search for something else to occupy our attention. Modern technology has made entertainment available almost everywhere. As a result, we rarely have to experience boredom for very long. That might not always be a good thing. Boredom gives the brain something it rarely receives: unplanned time. When people are not concentrating on a specific activity, their thoughts are free to wander. They may remember something they had forgotten, think about a problem differently, or imagine an entirely new idea. Consider what happens during a long car ride. At first, staring out the window may seem dull. After a while, however, you might begin inventing stories about the places you pass. You may think about something that happened earlier in the week or suddenly develop an idea for a project. Nothing instructed your brain to think about those things. Your mind simply had room to explore. Boredom can also encourage people to create their own entertainment. Before people could carry thousands of games and videos in their pockets, children often had to invent activities when nothing was planned. A cardboard box could become a spaceship. A backyard could become an unexplored wilderness. Creating entertainment required imagination. Of course, nobody wants to be bored constantly. Entertainment, hobbies, and technology can make life more enjoyable and help people learn. The problem occurs when we become uncomfortable with even a few minutes of having nothing to do. The next time you are waiting somewhere and feel the urge to immediately reach for a screen, consider waiting a few minutes instead. Look around. Think. Let your mind wander wherever it wants. You might still be bored. But you might also be surprised by where boredom takes you.

  3. Speaker 3


    Prompt 3: The Secret Life of City Trees A tree growing beside a busy city street may seem ordinary. People hurry past it on their way to school or work without giving it much attention. Yet that single tree may be performing several important jobs every day. One of those jobs is providing shade. Pavement and buildings absorb heat from sunlight, causing cities to become warmer than surrounding areas. Trees help reduce this effect by blocking sunlight and releasing moisture through their leaves. A street lined with large trees can feel noticeably cooler than a nearby street without them. Trees can also help manage rainwater. During a heavy storm, water rushes across roofs, sidewalks, and roads. Tree leaves temporarily catch some of that rain, while roots help the soil absorb water. This can reduce the amount of water entering storm drains all at once. Then there are the animals. Even in crowded neighborhoods, trees provide miniature habitats. Birds build nests among branches, insects feed on leaves and flowers, and squirrels use trees for food and shelter. A row of city trees can even provide a pathway that allows animals to travel between parks and other green spaces. Keeping city trees healthy, however, can be difficult. Their roots may have little room to grow beneath sidewalks. Cars can damage their trunks, and pollution or extreme heat can weaken them. Young trees also require regular watering until their roots become established. For these reasons, some cities employ specialists called arborists. Arborists inspect trees, remove dangerous branches, treat diseases, and determine when damaged trees must be replaced. The next time you walk past a tree growing between a sidewalk and a street, take a closer look. It may not seem as impressive as a forest or as carefully maintained as a garden, but it is doing far more than simply standing there. In the middle of a busy city, a tree is providing shade, controlling water, supporting wildlife, and quietly making its neighborhood a little more comfortable.

Round 2

  1. Speaker 1


    Prompt 1: The Audition Okay. I can do this. I have practiced this speech forty-seven times. Actually, forty-eight if you count the time I performed it for my dog, which I do, because Winston is a very demanding audience. He yawned halfway through, but I think that was a creative choice. The point is, I know the words. I know where to stand. I know when to breathe. I even know what to do with my hands, which was surprisingly difficult. Yesterday, I spent twenty minutes deciding whether this looked confident or like I was directing traffic. So why am I standing outside the audition room thinking about escaping through that window? I could leave. Nobody would stop me. I could go home, eat something, and spend the rest of my life wondering what would have happened. That sounds terrible. Maybe worse than going inside. That’s the problem with being nervous. Your brain starts offering ridiculous choices like they’re reasonable. “You could audition for the play, or you could move to another country and change your name.” There has to be something between those options. I don’t even need to get the part. I just need to walk through that door and try. That’s it. Walk in. Say the words. Try not to direct traffic with my hands. Okay. They’re calling my name. Here we go. And if this goes badly, Winston will never know.

  2. Speaker 2


    Prompt 2: The Apology I know you probably don’t want to talk to me, and I understand why. I’ve been practicing this conversation all day, but every version sounded like I was trying to make an excuse. So I’m not going to do that. I’m just going to say it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told anyone what you told me. You trusted me, and I treated it like it was just an interesting story. I told one person. I actually remember thinking, “It’s only one person.” That was incredibly stupid, because apparently that person told two people, and those people told everybody else, and by lunch it seemed like the entire school knew. I wanted to blame them. For a while, I did. I kept thinking that they were the ones who spread it everywhere. But they couldn’t have spread something they didn’t know. They knew because of me. I wish there were some clever thing I could say that would fix this immediately. There isn’t. You might stay angry with me. You might not trust me again for a long time. I understand that. I just don’t want you thinking I don’t care about what happened. I do. I care a lot. And if there is anything I can do to make this better, I will. I know saying “I’m sorry” doesn’t erase what I did. But I needed to say it anyway. I’m sorry.

  3. Speaker 3


    Prompt 3: The Last Box That’s it. The last box. My entire room is officially packed into six cardboard boxes and one suitcase that refuses to close. It’s strange. Yesterday, this was my room. Today, it looks like a place where somebody used to live. You can still see the little marks on the wall where my desk was. There’s a dent in the carpet from my bed. And there’s that scratch by the window from when I tried to move the bookshelf by myself. Mom still thinks the movers did that. I suppose I can finally admit it now. We’re moving three hundred miles away. What’s she going to do, ground me here? I thought I would be excited about leaving. New house, new school, new people. Everyone keeps calling it a “fresh start,” like my life is a notebook and we’re just turning to a clean page. But I liked the old page. I knew where everything was. I knew which floorboard squeaked outside my parents’ room. I knew exactly how long it took to bike to Jamie’s house. I even knew which neighbor would complain if our basketball rolled onto his lawn. At the new house, I won’t know any of that. Not yet, anyway. Maybe that’s what everyone means by a fresh start. You don’t erase everything that came before. You just have to learn a new place until eventually it feels like yours. Okay. Last box. Time to go.

Round 3

  1. Speaker 1


    Prompt 1: The Missing Backpack Characters: JAMIE and MORGAN JAMIE: I have a problem. A serious problem. The kind of problem where I might need to move to another country and start a new life. MORGAN: You lost something. JAMIE: My backpack. My entire backpack. Homework, science notes, library book, lunch container, everything. I had it during fourth period. Then I went to lunch, and now it has disappeared. MORGAN: Where have you looked? JAMIE: Everywhere. Classroom, cafeteria, library, office. I even checked the gym, and I haven't been in the gym today. I thought maybe my backpack decided to exercise without me. MORGAN: What happened after fourth period? JAMIE: I left class, stopped at my locker, talked to Noah, went downstairs, and ate lunch. MORGAN: Did you have your backpack at lunch? JAMIE: I don't remember. That's the problem. How do you not remember whether you're carrying a giant blue object on your back? I remember Noah telling me about his weekend. I remember somebody dropping a tray in the cafeteria. I remember deciding that the pizza looked dangerous. But apparently I don't remember my own backpack. MORGAN: You said you stopped at your locker. JAMIE: Yes. MORGAN: Did you put anything inside? JAMIE: My history book. I opened the locker, put the book in, closed the door, and... Oh. MORGAN: What? JAMIE: I think I know where my backpack is. MORGAN: Inside your locker? JAMIE: No. Better. I set it on the floor so I could open the locker. Then Noah walked up, and we started talking. I put my history book away, closed the locker, and walked downstairs. MORGAN: Without the backpack. JAMIE: I have spent forty minutes searching the entire school for something sitting three feet from where I started. MORGAN: Look at the bright side. At least you know where it is. JAMIE: Unless somebody took it. MORGAN: Then we have another problem. JAMIE: Don't say that. I can only handle one international relocation per day.

  2. Speaker 2


    Prompt 2: The Competition Characters: AVA and NOLAN AVA: I don't think I'm going in. NOLAN: You've been preparing for three weeks. AVA: Exactly. Three weeks of preparation have taught me something very important: I am terrible at this. NOLAN: You weren't saying that yesterday. AVA: Yesterday I was practicing in my bedroom. My bedroom is extremely supportive. The lamp never judges me. The dresser has never laughed at me. Now there are thirty people in there, and all of them are waiting for me to make a mistake. NOLAN: They're probably worried about making their own mistakes. AVA: That's what people always say, but it doesn't help. Suppose I walk in there and completely forget what I'm doing? I could stand there silently for five minutes while everyone watches. They'd have to carry me out. NOLAN: Or you could do exactly what you've practiced. AVA: You make it sound so easy. NOLAN: It isn't easy. That's why you're nervous. But being nervous doesn't mean you're not ready. AVA: I just wish I could know what was going to happen. NOLAN: If you knew, there wouldn't be much point in competing. AVA: I would personally enjoy competition much more if someone gave me the results beforehand. NOLAN: What were you hoping would happen when you signed up? AVA: I wanted to prove I could do something that scared me. NOLAN: Well, congratulations. You found something that scares you. AVA: That's not exactly what I meant. NOLAN: You don't have to win. You don't even have to be great. But if you leave now, the one thing you wanted to prove is the one thing you won't get to find out. AVA: I really dislike how reasonable you're being. NOLAN: It's one of my worst qualities. AVA: Fine. I'm going in. But if I forget everything and stand there silently, you're responsible for carrying me out. NOLAN: Deal. AVA: Okay. Here goes nothing. NOLAN: I think you mean, here goes three weeks of practice.

  3. Speaker 3


    Prompt 3: The Time Capsule Characters: ELLA and BEN ELLA: You're not supposed to open that. BEN: I know. ELLA: Then why are you holding a screwdriver? BEN: Because apparently knowing something is a bad idea doesn't prevent me from considering it. ELLA: We buried this time capsule in fifth grade. We agreed we wouldn't open it until graduation. BEN: Graduation is three months away. ELLA: Which is not graduation. BEN: I'm curious. Aren't you? We haven't seen what's inside for seven years. I barely remember what I put in there. ELLA: I remember exactly what I put in there, which is why I don't want you opening it. BEN: Now I definitely want to open it. ELLA: It's embarrassing. BEN: Everything we did in fifth grade was embarrassing. I wore the same dinosaur sweatshirt twice a week because I thought it made me look mature. ELLA: I wrote a letter to my future self. BEN: So did I. ELLA: Mine included a list of everything I thought I would accomplish by graduation. I was going to become captain of the soccer team, learn French, write a novel, and somehow own a horse. BEN: Ambitious. ELLA: I quit soccer in seventh grade. I know approximately six words of French. My novel is eleven pages long, and unless there's a horse hiding somewhere in my backyard, that didn't happen either. BEN: Maybe that's why we should wait. ELLA: What difference will three months make? BEN: None. That's the point. The letter isn't a checklist. You were ten. Ten-year-old you was guessing what seventeen-year-old you would be like. ELLA: And she guessed badly. BEN: Maybe. Or maybe she just didn't know all the other things you'd do instead. ELLA: Such as? BEN: I don't know. Ask her in three months. ELLA: You're really going to make me wait? BEN: I was going to open it until you started talking. Now I think we'd ruin it. ELLA: Give me the screwdriver. BEN: Why? ELLA: Because apparently knowing something is a bad idea doesn't prevent you from considering it. BEN: Fair point.