Title: STMA Speakers Continue Winning Tradition
It is a busiest time of the school year for the STMA forensics (“speaking”) activity teams including debate, speech, and mock trial.
DEBATE PARTICIPANT GOES TO STATE
The STMA Debate team, which competes at policy and student congress events throughout Minnesota in the fall, sent Meghan Florip to the Minnesota High School League State Debate Tournament on the campus of the University of Minnesota on January 15-16. Florip competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate and was STMA’s first state participant in the challenging category. Florip qualified by placing 5th with a winning 3-2 record at the Sectional Tournament held at East Ridge High School.
STMA Debate Coach, Amy Vander Heiden was excited about the state qualifying entry: “Meghan worked really hard all season to become a polished speaker. The Minnesota State Debate Tournament represents some of the best debaters in the nation, and Meghan represented STMA very well.”
In addition, STMA will be sending another student in the category of Student Congress to the National Speech and Debate Association’s tournament held this summer in Salt Lake City, Utah. Senior Brianna Goodchild placed first at the national qualifying tournament held at Andover on December 11-12. Teammate Allison Birk is listed as an alternate and placed fourth overall.
MOCK TRIAL TEAM WINS CONFERENCE AND REMAINS UNDEFEATED
The STMA Mock Trial team continues its long tradition of success. STMA had two teams and 22 students competing this year. The varsity team won the Mississippi 8 Conference for a second year in a row. The varsity team is currently undefeated in regional competitions and will be aiming to reach the state tournament for the third year in a row.
STMA SPEECH INVITATIONAL ON FEBRUARY 13TH
The STMA Speech team started its season at Chanhassen on January 23. At Andover on February 20th, the team placed 3rd in the small schools division. Seniors Brianna Goodchild won 1st place in Extemporaneous Speaking and Kaitlyn Budion placed 4th in Creative Expression. The team is working toward defending their Mississippi 8 Conference Championship last year. The STMA Speech Invitational was also held at STMA High School on February 13. The tournament is among the largest speech tournaments in the area with over 600 participants.
ANNUAL STUDENT SPEAKING SHOWCASE ON FEBRUARY 18TH
In other news, the STMA Forensics teams, including Mock Trial, Speech, and Debate, hosted their annual showcase event at the STMA High School in the Performing Arts Center on February 18. Students offered the best speech and team performances from the year. A special auction was held from community donations to raise funds for the STMA Forensics Booster Club to promote speaking activities throughout the year.