Southeast forensics students Kim Collins and Ashleigh Fleck recently qualified for the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament being held this summer in Dallas, Texas. Kim and Ashleigh are among the more than 2,400 high school students from across the country who qualified for the tournament.

Competing April 17-18 at the district tournament in Fort Scott, Kim finished in 2^nd place in United States Extemporaneous Speaking, and Ashleigh finished in 2^nd place in International Extemporaneous Speaking. The top two in each event qualify for the national tournament. Other students placing at the tournament were Aubrey Colvin- 5^th place, Dramatic Interpretation, Ashleigh Fleck- 6^th place, Original Oratory, Ryley Slifka- 8^th place, International Extemporaneous Speaking, Dietrich Smith- 8^th place, Dramatic Interpretation, and Savana Bennett- 12^th place, Humorous Interpretation.

Qualifying for nationals is extremely difficult. Not only are you competing against the toughest competition of the season, you’re also performing multiple times in front of upwards of 20 different judges. Kim went to nationals in Birmingham back in 2013, and Ashleigh attended last year’s national tournament in Kansas City. Needless to say, both girls were motivated to qualify again. After the first night of competition, Ashleigh and Kim were both in tight competition with a handful of other competitors. I told Kim before her semifinal round, that she needed to have a strong round. She responded extremely well, being ranked first in her section by all three judges. She followed that up with a very solid performance in finals to finish in second place, qualifying her for nationals. Ashleigh’s had a pretty good season in International Extemp, but I think even she was pleasantly surprised with her overall performance. Ashleigh had already qualified to nationals in Congressional Debate, and has opted to compete in that event.

The national tournament is June 14-19. Anyone wishing to make a donation to help fund the trip should contact Gary Leiker for information.  Call Southeast High School at 457-8365 or email at gleiker@usd247.com.