Chaney student moves to State Speech and Debate Tournament

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Neighbors | Submitted.Pictured is Chaney student Yelisa Cortez with her Speech and Debate State Qualifier plaque.

In her second year as a member of the Chaney speech and debate team, sophomore Yelisa Cortez achieved what some students never do. Yelisa qualified for the Ohio High School Speech League State Tournament. The tournament took place on March 3-4 in Berea.

She competes in the Humorous Interpretation category. Competitors in HI take a selection from a single published work and interpret it, recreating the story, characters and emotions, according to the OHSSL Competitive Events Manual. Her piece from Bekah Brunstetter’s, “Fat Kids on Fire,” relays the struggles of young people as they try to fit in.

Cortez is the Chaney speech and debate team’s third state tournament qualifier. The team was revived in 2014 after years of being inactive. She also was a semi-finalist for the National Qualifying Tournament, finishing in the top eight.

This is the first year that Cortez has qualified for the state tournament. Jim Courim and Carla Gipson, Chaney speech and debate coaches, will accompany Yelisa to the tournament next month.

Earlier this school year, the Chaney High School speech and debate team received recognition from the Ohio House of Representatives for achieving charter membership in the state speech league.