Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 02, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) is proud to announce this year’s national speech and debate champions. Following a week of exceptional competition at the National Speech & Debate Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the following high school students have been crowned 2018 champions, winning more than $150,000 in scholarships. “Our national champions are the future leaders of our country,” said J. Scott Wunn, Executive Director of the National Speech & Debate Association. “These students not only have extraordinary talent, but they are passionate, smart, dedicated, and hard working. We’re extremely proud of their accomplishments and look forward to all of the great things they will do in the future.” With more than 8,000 students, coaches, educators, and parents from across the country attending the tournament each year, the National Speech & Debate Tournament is the largest academic competition in the world. More than 150,000 students are members of the National Speech & Debate Association, and only 3% qualify to compete at the national tournament. The national champions make up less than 1% of all speech and debate competitors. The 2018 NSDA High School Speech & Debate National Champions: SPEECH EVENTS: DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION Kimberly Lee (Summit High School, Summit, NJ) Coached by Anne Poyner. DUO INTERPRETATION Molly McDermott and Kamila Cwanek (Prospect High School, Mt Prospect, IL) Coached by Scott McDermott, Jon Kaminsky, and Michael Piccoli. HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION Taylor Headrick (Highland High School, Medina, OH) Coached by Suzette Burtoft. INFORMATIVE SPEAKING Lily Neumann-Drenth (Woodbury High School, Woodbury, MN) Coached by Suzanne White and Dillon White INTERNATIONAL EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING Uzair Alpial (Plano West Senior High School, Plano, TX) Coached by Rhonda Smith and Kattie Leito ORIGINAL ORATORY Halima Badri (Apple Valley High School, Apple Valley, MN) Coached by Scott Voss PROGRAM ORAL INTERPRETATION Jenee Cidel (Cypress Bay High School, Weston, FL) Coached by Jon Wayne Martin, Alyssa Fiebrantz, and Joele Miguel Denis UNITED STATES EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING Jacqueline Wei (Plano West Senior High School, Plano, TX) Coached by Rhonda Smith and Kattie Leito COMMENTARY Natalie Estes (Collierville High School, Collierville, TN) Coached by Jeff Robbins EXTEMPORANEOUS DEBATE Margaret Kelly (Glendale High School, Springfield, MO) Coached by Allen Sutton EXPOSITORY SPEAKING Olivia Dutcher (ILEAD North Hollywood, Van Nuys, CA) Coached by Iain Lampert IMPROMPTU Miles Morton (ILEAD North Hollywood, Van Nuys, CA) Coached by Iain Lampert POETRY READING Jahne Manifold (Noblesville High School, Noblesville, IN) Coached by Evan Elliott and Richard Bowman PROSE READING Jack Neel (Bethlehem High School, Bardstown, KY) Coached by Jenny Mudd Neel STORYTELLING Garrett Williams (Liberty North High School, Liberty, MO) Coached by Kim Lenger DEBATE EVENTS: BIG QUESTIONS DEBATE Seung Joh Cho (L.C. Anderson High School, Austin, TX) Coached by Robey Holland CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE (HOUSE) Nicholas DeVito (Poly Prep Country Day School, Brooklyn, NY) Coached by Maggie Woodward, Janna White, and Jack Ave CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE (SENATE) Luke Tillitski (Charlotte Latin School, Charlotte, NC) Coached by Jonathan Peele LINCOLN-DOUGLAS DEBATE Ishan Bhatt (St. Andrew's Episcopal School, Ridgeland, MS) Coached by Jharick Shields, Darin Maier, and Ruthie Taylor POLICY DEBATE Stephen Lowe and Danish Khan (Blue Valley Southwest High School, Overland Park, KS) Coached by Jared Zuckerman PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE Ishan Maunder and Devesh Kodnani (Mission San Jose High School, Fremont, CA) Coached by Jasmine Liu USA WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE Elyse Dewbre (Northland Christian School, Houston, TX) Kaitlyn England (Kingwood High School, Kingwood, TX) Emily Grantham (Kingwood High School, Kingwood, TX) Leila Saklou (Kingwood High School, Kingwood, TX) Shreya Joshi (Woodlands High School, The Woodlands, TX) Coached by Courtney Coffman Special Awards: COMMUNICATOR OF THE YEAR Student Voices of Broward County Accepted by Marjory Stoneman Douglas Speech & Debate Captains Katherine Guerra and Todd Hewling (Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL) NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR OF THE YEAR D. Scott Looney (Hawken School, Gates Mills, Ohio) WILLIAMS WOODS TATE, JR. NATIONAL STUDENT OF THE YEAR Elena Cecil (LaRue County High School, Hodgenville, KY) JAMES M. COPELAND HIGH SCHOOL COACH OF THE YEAR Joni Anker (Eagan High School, Eagan, MN) NATIONAL EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR Mary Gormley (Montville High School, Montville, NJ) MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR Errol Evans (Attucks Middle School, Hollywood, FL) MIDDLE SCHOOL COACH OF THE YEAR Monica Salda (Sacred Heart Catholic School, Hattiesburg, MS) # # # About the National Speech & Debate Tournament This year’s National Speech & Debate Tournament in Fort Lauderdale, Florida featured students from 47 states, 5 countries, and 1 U.S. territory. The week-long 2018 National Tournament brought more than 7,000 students, coaches, educators, and parents to the Fort Lauderdale area.The National Speech & Debate Association has hosted the National Tournament in various cities since 1931. To qualify for this premier event, students across the country compete in 110 District Tournaments. The winners of these District Tournaments qualify for the National Tournament. From more than 150,000 student members, less than 3% qualify to compete in this prestigious competition for the right to be called National Champions. About the National Speech & Debate Association The National Speech & Debate Association is the largest interscholastic speech and debate organization serving middle school, high school, and collegiate students in the United States. The Association provides competitive speech and debate activities, high-quality resources, comprehensive training, scholarship opportunities, and advanced recognition to more than 150,000 students and coaches every year. For 90 years, the National Speech & Debate Association has empowered more than 1.5 million members to become engaged citizens, skilled professionals, and honorable leaders in our society. For more information, visit www.speechanddebate.org.
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Grace Rogers National Speech & Debate Association (920) 748-6206 grace.rogers@speechanddebate.org
