Senior Sean Hatfield went to this year's Speech Nationals. Photo by: Jake Lenburg

By Jake Lenburg

With the school year coming to an end, the PHS Speech and Debate Team is preparing for Nationals in Dallas this summer.

Speech has many competitive events, ranging from Congressional Debate to Dramatic Interpretation, Speech has a wide variety of competitive events. Junior Patrick Felke says he will be competing in International Extemporaneous. Sophomore Michaila Nate says she will be competing in Congress at Nationals. On the other hand, Senior Sean Hatfield and Junior Jason Pickell will be competing together in Duo Interpretation.

In speech, some members have to pick their materials or write them. Hatfield and Pickell are doing a piece called “Into the Woods,” while Nate says she is writing 47 three minute speeches over legislation. In contrast, Felke says he draws a new question each round, so he does not have one set piece.

As the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.”  According to Pickell, ”We usually practice four times a week with hour long practice sessions We perform our piece with our coach and we fix mistakes and polish the performance to make it perfect.” Nate says “It takes a long time to write and research before competing at nationals.” She also researches and prints off many articles, outlines speeches, and works with a group of coaches to get prepared for nationals. Felke says he reads the news the night before to prepare for his event.

With Nationals in Dallas this summer, nerves and excitement may be the main emotion for competing. Felke says he is neither excited nor nervous for Nationals. While Pickell says “It is an interesting mixture of both emotions.” Nate says she is thrilled at the opportunity to compete at Nationals but is also very nervous. Speech has many appealing aspects to the competitors. For Pickell, it’s all about dominating the competition. As for Felke, it’s all about winning. But Nate says “I love the sense of family in our team. We spend a lot of time together and are really close by the end of the year. ”