September 8th will be a day I will remember for a long,long time. The Panther Speech and Debate Team competed in two locations with similar results. Joseph Garza competed at The Grapevine Tournament Friday and Saturday and placed 5th in Congressional Debate. He received one bid of the two required to compete at the National Meet later in the year. Joseph also secured 3 TFA State Points to go with his 4 points in International Extemp from Hendrickson last week.
Twelve members of the team went to La Vernia and truly made my day special. Coltrane Drexler placed 4th in United States Extemporaneous Speaking out of 78 competitors and earned 6 TFA State Points. He was not through, though, because he received another 6 points after advancing to semi-finals with a 5-1 record in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Coltrane also finished 3rd out of 61 debaters as the Outstanding Speaker in LD.
Not to be outdone, Calanee O’Dell and Diana Allison placed 4th in Duo Interpretation and earned 2 TFA State Points.
We were not through for the day as Kennedy Edmonds and Audrey Higley advanced to semi-finals in United States Extemporaneous Speaking and garnered 2 TFA State Points as well.
The day was complete when Yanelle Licona advanced to semi-finals in International Extemporaneous Speaking and earned 1 TFA State Point.
So to summarize the day, 13 Panthers competed and 7 came away with TFA State Points!!!
September 8, 2018 will always be a special day for me.
The Earl Warren Speech Tournament will be this Saturday, September 15th in San Antonio. The bus will depart PHS at 5:30AM with the return time around 11:30PM if the students perform as I expect. Please stay hydrated and rested during the week and stay well. Healthy eating and rest are crucial to keeping immune systems working.
Finally, while I am writing this, the San Gabriel River is flowing rapidly outside my patio with much debris floating in the stream. Flood watches are all around us tonight and will be in effect early Monday morning. Please take a moment to think and pray for those who will be affected across the state and region. Also pray for my wife, Laura, as she goes back to Snyder for two weeks. It looks like I will be eating out in the evenings, however, I will make a concerted effort to choose healthy foods.
Have a great week!
RGH
Pflugerville Speech & Debate 