JACKSON, Wyo. — The Jackson Hole High School Speech and Debate Team started their season off strong with a novice-only competition in Worland over this past weekend.
A total of 11 schools attended the tournament. For Jackson Hole High School, nine of the team’s 14 novice competitors participated in the tournament, bringing home a number of top finishes.
Freshman Alexis Hernandez found success in Extemporaneous Speaking where he finished in first place. Hernandez rose to the top in the event where a student is given a topic and must write and deliver a seven-minute speech within 30 minutes.
Sophomore Tina Tonkin finished in second place in Original Oratory with her speech about racial prejudice in a small town. Freshman Nicole Checker joined partner sophomore Nayeli Hernandez Lopez in Duo Interpretation where they finished in third place.
Freshmen Jheili Montiel Huerta and Ary Jimenez Garcia placed third in Public Forum Debate. They spent the weekend looking at both sides of whether or not the benefits of the United States federal government’s use of offensive cyber operations outweigh the harms.
Junior Abigail Daugherty finished in sixth place in Humorous Interpretation while freshman Julieta Anaya placed eighth in the same event. Freshman Maya Worcester was ranked in the top eight in one of her sessions of Congressional Debate.
“The strength of the team is growing. We are extremely excited to see the promise of our novices and look forward to seeing what the upcoming meets will bring,” said Coach Londe Gagnon.
The team is coached by Londe and Peggy Gagnon.
JHHS Speech and Debate travels to Rock Springs next weekend where the novices will join the varsity for the competition.
