Only one week after school began, following the languid summer vacation, the highly decorated Miramonte High School public speaking team received the news that the team had placed in the top 1% of competitive speech school across the country. Miramonte public speaking ranked 59th out of the 2,700 National Forensic League schools nationwide. This wonderful news was in addition to the fact that just last spring, Miramonte’s own, Sandy Maguire received the Fifth Diamond Award, a highly rare award that depicts the great achievements and accomplishments of a public speaking coach.

Following the first two Golden Gate Speech Association tournaments, Miramonte’s public speaking team has once again proven to be highly successful. At the first congressional tournament, numerous students from schools across the Bay Area competed at Washington High School, on September 29th, in San Francisco. The competitive speakers were divided into the more advanced Senate, and the beginning House chambers, where they debated five state and federal bills and resolutions.

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The Hannah Montana craze seems to have taken over the country, and fortunately, I was able to witness it, first hand at Thursday night’s concert in Oakland. As the lights dimmed and signal that the show was about to begin was given, I heard something that I thought only existed in movies: window-shattering screams from tween girls.
I came to one conclusion: I should have brought earplugs.

The entire stadium at the Oakland Oracle was filled with girls ages 5 to 55, the few fathers and brothers sprinkled in the audience didn’t seem to enjoy the Hannah experience quite as much as their daughters. What I found to be truly amazing was the fact that while Hannah Montana’s image was focused on tween girls, at least one fourth of the stadium was filled with crazed teenagers.

When Hannah finally made her appearance on stage, the audience sprung to their feet as if they were meeting the Pope, minus the hysterics. The high-energy atmosphere of the concert continued until the very last song, Best of Both Worlds. One thing that makes Hannah Montana so popular to her fans is her down to earth personality. The personable pop star continuously engaged the fans throughout the concert. At one point, she even held a friendly competition between both sides of the stadium: “Left-side, I want you to yell Montana as loud as you can, on the count of one, two…no, not yet, THREE!”

Not only were the fans singing along and clinging to every word Hannah said, but also as the concert progressed, mothers were standing to dance and sing along with their daughters. One dancing mother said, “I love watching Hannah Montana with my daughter, because she’s wholesome and family orientated. She sets a good example for my daughter, and is a wonderful role model in today’s world of less than perfect celebrities.”

Throughout the show, there were many costume changes, from a sequined dress with flip-flops to a neon green tutu with neon green converse shoes to match. Hannah’s biggest change was made halfway through the show when she transformed from her famous Disney channel character Hannah Montana to the very real Miley Cyrus.
After the concert concluded, two six-year-old girls, Zoe Warch and Jamie Seals unanimously agreed, “We love Hannah because she sings really good.”

As I was leaving, the lines for Hannah T-shirts and apparel were so long that they began to wrap around the stadium. Seeing as this was Hannah Montana’s first tour, clearly is a craze for Hannah and Miley, has just taken off, and I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of her in the future.
–Cheryl Hori