Hope Grant-Herriot competes at National Forensics Tournament in Indianapolis by Coach Jean Tobin

Hope Grant-Herriot competes at National Forensics Tournament in Indianapolis by Coach Jean Tobin
We had a roller coaster of a ride and it was an incredible experience. Thank you all for your support during this adventure! For more general information, the National league has a website (www.nflonline.org) and a Facebook page with updated photos and information about Nationals: https://www.facebook.com/NationalForensicLeague.

Thousands of students from every state attended the tournament, and 250 students competed in Original Oratory -- Hopes event. Hope did not advance into the out rounds, but she was within three points of advancing. She earned a total of 39 points and was one of the top 70 students in her event. It was heartbreaking in the moment because the tournament really hypes the naming of those that advance and this has been a dream of Hopes for several years. We also thought she would do well because of the 12 judges that came up to us and commented on how much they loved her speech and told us that they had ranked her highly in their round. She competed in six rounds, each round had two judges.

However, Hope is a very strong competitor and within hours she was ready to go back to work. We watched every finals round and took notes on every speaker to learn what we could about what it would take to do better in the future. If you get a chance to watch the final speeches, it is an amazing experience. These are truly talented competitors and they were inspiring to watch. We learned a lot and plan on sharing our knowledge next year with the rest of the Walla Walla High School debate team. Thanks and have a wonderful summer!