Fairmont Speech had a historic trip to the NSDA National Speech and Debate tournament last week, June 15-20, 2025.
There were 7,000 students competing at Nationals represented by 1,500 schools, 49 states and even some international schools. Sophomore Leon Yang made it to the final round of Humorous Interpretation (HI) where he earned 4th place. Leon auto-qualified for the 2026 NSDA National Tournament in Richmond, Virginia in June 2026. Among Leon's 12 final round judges was actor and former HI finalist, Josh Gad, commonly known for being the voice of Olaf from Disney's Frozen. Leon's performance can be found in the NSDA 2025 livestream archive. For more information on the students' experience at nationals, check out the June 26th story in the Sentinel.
Seniors Grace Simpson and Oliver Thedens made it to Octofinal Round and placed in the Top 60 duos in the nation for the second year in a row.
Senior Dominick Lund-May participated in United States Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu.
Senior Isaac Thomas participated in Storytelling and Extemporaneous Commentary.
Junior Belinda Lutterman participated in Original Oratory and Impromptu.
Sophomore Allie Streit participated in Expository and Impromptu.
Fairmont placed in the top 40 schools in team speech sweepstakes and received a School of Honor plaque.
This was Fairmont's 9th appearance at NSDA Nationals and the first time advancing a competitor to the final round.
Fairmont Speech is coached by Kathleen Walker, Erik Walker, and Miles Duffey.
