Speech team named to 400 club

For a second time, the Green River High School Speech and Debate team was named to the 400 Club.

According to a press release from the National Speech and Debate Association, club awards were given to nearly 800 schools nationwide, including two Wyoming schools GRHS and Cheyenne East High School. The clubs range from 400 to 900 and both Wyoming schools were named to the 400 club.

“Our Club Award winners show an incredible commitment to this activity, their students and their success,” J. Scott Wunn, National Speech and Debate Association executive director, said. “These programs demonstrate outstanding commitment to teaching students essential life skills: including communication, research, listening, writing and organization.”

Strength points are calculated based on student and coach achievements in competition and service, the release states. For each degree a student receives, they also earn one strength point. A school’s strength is the sum of each student’s strength plus the strength of up to three coaches.

“Getting into the elite 400 Club is a huge accomplishment; it happened because we had students and coaches who worked hard,” head coach Carina White said. “The other teams in the 400 Club are from big schools in big states with large populations. GRHS has a long tradition of challenging and winning against much bigger schools.”

This is the second year, GRHS has been named to the 400 Club and it’s something the White is proud of.

“In the last 12 years we have been the 4A state champions for eight times; six of those titles were back to back,” White said. “I am so proud of the program we have created at GRHS. Our students have shown if you set goals and work hard to achieve them, anything is possible. They have been nationally ranked for a long time and they are competing against schools who have debate classes and giant budgets.”

That’s something that’s tough to do. Even several Wyoming schools now offer debate as a class.

“Our kids have to work long hours after school to practice. What we do is difficult and they excel at it,” she said.