Senior Gavin James and junior Krissy Dearing competed in the speech and debate state UIL competition on Tuesday, May 24 and Wednesday, May 25. James won 4th place in Persuasive Extemp and Dearing won 5th in Poetry Interp.

“I’m so proud of everything our UIL students have accomplished this year,” speech and debate director Rory McKenzie said. “I am very excited to see what our program will be able to achieve next year.” 

Persuasive Extemporaneous Speaking is a competition where students draw a topic and have 30 minutes to write a 7 minute speech on it only using articles and information that they have saved. Poetry Oral Interpretation is a competition where students select different selections of poetry and read them in dramatic and emotional ways.

“Speech and debate has been a very important and enjoyable part of my high school career,” James said. “This program provided me with skills I will need for the rest of my life and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”