Hellgate hosted the state speech and debate tournament this past weekend. Schools from all over the state came to Missoula to compete.
Many Missoula locals volunteered to judge the various events. No prior experience was necessary to become a judge, and many volunteers indicated that they enjoyed learning more about the speech and debate competition process.
There were four debate events that were hosted at Big Sky High School, and all of the speech events took place at Hellgate, except for the final round, which took place at Big Sky. There were nine speech events in which students competed (three memorized, four interpretive and two short preparation.)
The four debate events were Public Forum Debate, Policy Debate, Legislative Debate, and Lincoln Douglas Debate. All events revolve around politics either on a US or global level. The nine speech events were Memorized Public Address, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking (memorized events), Program Oral Interp, Duo Interp, Humorous Interp, Dramatic Interp (Interpretive events), Impromptu Speaking, and Extemporaneous Speaking (short preparation).
Overall, Hellgate had a number of competitors who placed in the top 10 in their respective events. In speech, Claire Kinderwater placed 1st in Informative Speaking, Claire Gibbons placed 5th in Impromptu Speaking, Quynh McKevey-Pham placed 6th in Program Oral Interpretation, and Maia Fishman-Miller placed 8th in Memorized Public Address.
In debate events Ryan Heng placed 4th in Lincoln Douglas Debate and Julien Alviar and Ellie Dula placed 5th in Public Forum Debate. Overall, Hellgate placed 5th at state and the students will continue to work in preparation for National Qualifiers in Helena in early February.
