Tiger Talkers Speak - By Julie Meiklejohn

Description: Pictured are junior high competitors Sarai Lowe, Gianna Ayala, and Emma Aragon, and senior high competitors Lexi McClure, Jackie Becerra, and Izzy Ortiz. (photo by Julie Meiklejohn)

Tiger Talkers Speak 

By Julie Meiklejohn

According to the National Social Anxiety Center, “the fear of public speaking is the most common phobia ahead of death” A group of La Junta Junior/Senior High School students have made it their mission to overcome this phobia…and they do it in style!

La Junta Junior/Senior High School’s speech and debate teams, collectively known as the Tiger Talkers, celebrated their successful season with coffee, performances, and awards at the 1st annual Tiger Talkers showcase at The Barista on April 4. Speech and Debate is made up of 11 different events, in the categories of interpretation, speech, and debate. Interpretation involves a competitor interpreting a published piece of literature (poetry, drama, or humor); speech involves a competitor writing his or her own original speech, and debate involves specific topics that students research and prepare to argue against members of other teams. One event in debate is Congressional Debate, in which students act as members of Congress, writing bills, researching them, and debating them in “Senate Chambers.” 

The speech and debate season is a lengthy one, beginning with novice meets in October and ending with state competition in February (with a possibility of competing at the national level in June). This season, the high school team competed at 6 full meets and 2 separate Congress competitions, while the newly formed junior high team (who have an abbreviated season) competed at 3 meets. 

Junior high competitors include Gianna Ayala, with her poetry interpretation piece entitled “Wild Embers: Poems of Rebellion, Fire, and Beauty” and the duo interpretation team of Sarai Lowe and Emma Aragon, with their humorous piece called “How to Be a Villain.” Ayala placed in the top six in all three junior high meets.

High school competitors include Isabella Ortiz, who competed in Congressional Debate and shared a speech about banning red dye #3, and the duo interpretation team of Jackie Becerra and Lexi McClure, with their humorous piece called “How to Survive a Horror Movie.” Becerra and McClure placed in the top six in every meet they competed in this season, ultimately placing 2nd at the state competition. 

Fine Arts Letters were awarded to the high school competitors, and Jackie Becerra and Lexi McClure were named co-presidents for next year’s teams. The teams are coached by Julie Meiklejohn and Hannah Gomez. 

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