Speech Captain London Muscolino ‘25 waited in anticipation as the announcer got up to read off the names of those who would qualify for the 2025 Speech Team Nationals. The announcer had barely started talking when he read off Muscolino’s name, meaning she’d qualified for nationals, making LT history.

“I was over the moon [when I found out I qualified for nationals],” Muscolino said. “I didn’t really react at first. My name was the first name that they read. I kinda just sat there [wondering if they] actually just read my name. I was really, really excited. I went up there knowing I was the first ever [to qualify] in LT history, and I just felt so much pride, and I was so excited to be able to represent the school in a positive way. I just hope this will be an inspiration for other speech kids to be able to achieve their speech goals as well.”

The road to nationals is a long one. In order to attend State, one must be chosen as the LT representative for each event; this is done by the Speech Team coaches. One member qualifies for each event. Muscolino was the representative for both Prose Reading and Dramatic Interpretation (DI). From there, she competed in regionals, where the top three moved on to sectionals, and then the top three from sectionals moved on to State. Muscolino qualified in both her events to go to State. For nationals, however, it’s one qualifying tournament, and again, the top three from each event. The scoring is a little different as they add up scores from the entire day, which determines the final score and placement.

“I think a really special moment was when I found out I was going to the final round for State because I had gone to State my sophomore year and didn’t qualify for finals,” Muscolino said. “I really, really wanted to get into the final round this year. I had gotten into a final round for DI, and I went and hugged my coach, and she was like, ‘You’ve done it.’ It was a moment that made me realize it was all worth it.”

Muscolino’s DI, “Do We Know How to Grieve” by Fracine Wheeler, was told from the perspective of a mother who lost her son in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Head Coach Sarah Pouls said. The speech conveys the impact grief and love have on a person. 

“With gun violence and mass shootings being such a prevalent part of the world we live in, I believe that [Muscolino’s] ability to share these emotions with an audience is what made her piece so powerful,” Pouls said. “[Muscolino’s] DI was so impactful because the story resonates with any age group and is relevant to the world we live in today.” 

In order to best prepare and familiarize herself with the speech, Muscolino spent time researching the author’s story, looking at photos of their family, and reading other pieces the author wrote about this same event.

“It’s a lot about recognizing that this is someone’s actual life and someone’s story and the story is incredibly tragic,” Muscolino said. “[The research I had done] just makes [the story] feel so much more real, and knowing that just makes it easier to channel those emotions and actually get to that point where I am crying because you realize that this type of thing happens all of the time, unfortunately. Especially with the rise in school shootings. It’s horrible, but I think being able to convey that in a way that’s meaningful and touches audience members can help do justice to that story.”

This year, nationals will take place from June 15-20 in Des Moines, Iowa. This year also marks the 100-year anniversary of the national speech tournament.

“[Muscolino] will be the first speech student to ever attend Nationals from LT, and I am so proud to have been the coach to help her get there,” Speech Team coach Madeline Morris said.  “Many, many years ago, I competed at Nationals as a high school student myself, and to share that unbelievable experience with my student now is going to be so exciting.”