For the second year in a row, Frenship High School student Alex Lopez will be headed to the National Speech and Debate Tournament in June.
Lopez along with eight other Frenship students recently competed at the Tall Cotton National Qualifier District Tournament hosted at Texas Tech. Lopez took home the first-place title for both Humorous Interpretation and Program Oral Interpretation.
Only able to advance in one event, Lopez has chosen to compete in Humorous Interpretation at the 2020 National Speech and Debate Tournament to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico from June 14 – 19th. During the tournament, he will compete against students from across the nation and some international teams.
Lopez, who is also very active in FHS theatre, competed at the national level last year in Duo Interpretation.
“The amount of self-confidence I have derived from speech and debate has helped me not only in theater, but also personally,” said Lopez.
Competing in these tournaments is no easy task. FHS Speech and Debate coach Carrie Hopkins says the students can compete in 17 different debate, speaking and interpretation events and they must be able to discuss a wide range of issues and current events.
“Diverse topics from what is currently happening in the political arena, to human rights, to protecting the environment, to pure dramatic entertainment simply amaze me. The skills they gain through this program prepares them for both college and the job market,” said Hopkins.
Hopkins says their tournament season starts in September and runs through June; However, many students elect to continue their training through camps in July. She says their hard work and dedication shines through when they’re competing.
“The tournaments are intense and long with us being involved in competition from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and often without a break for eating. Yet, these students show up for weekend after weekend and give it their all,” she said. “I feel so fortunate to coach them, and I highly recommend others to watch some of these rounds. You will leave in awe that these are high school-aged students.”
Frenship students who competed at the Tall Cotton National Qualifier District Tournament included:
- Alex Lopez in Humorous Interpretation and Program Oral Interpretation (First place in both, competing in Nationals in Humorous Interpretation)
- Landon Pack in Dramatic Interpretation and Humorous Interpretation
- Will Stevens in Congressional Debate, Senate (Selected as 1st Alternate for the National level)
- Gracie Maddox in Program Oral Interpretation (Selected as 2nd Alternate for the National Level)
- Javon Deshone, Amber McFarland, and Salma Alhsni in Congressional Debate, House
- Coral Luna in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking
- Dania Erwin in Lincoln Douglas Debate.