FHN’s Speech and Debate team will be participating in Districts on March 3 and 4, and  March 9 through 11. The tournament on March 3 and 4 will be at Parkway South High School and the tournament on March 9 through 11 will be at Clayton High School.

“I am looking forward to seeing all of my friends and teammates hopefully advance to state or sectionals. We’ve been working really hard this season, so I’m really hoping it pays off,” junior Grant Frietas said.

The Districts on March 3 and 4 are held by MSHAA. Qualifiers at this tournament will get the opportunity to compete at State which will take place in Springfield on April 21 and 22. The competition on March 9 through 11, held by NSDA, will determine who advances to Nationals which will be held in June in Birmingham, AL.

“We are known to be good at the interpretation events, prose and poetry events, but we have a lot of potential over all,” Speech and Debate’s Vice President Caitlind Walker said. “Our goals are to get a some people to state and some people to nationals.”

The Speech and Debate team has had eight tournaments leading up to Districts that have helped them to prepare. They also practice twice a week, during which they work to perfect their events. To help them prepare, people who are participating in debate events write a new debate case every month. People other than the speech and debate coach, such as former students, come and observe those in speech events to give them tips for improvement.

“Having the different points of view from different people is really beneficial,” Walker said.