UPDATE: Southeast Idaho Team Takes 2nd Place in National Speech and Debate Tournament Final
UPDATE: The Idaho High Schools combined debate team competed in the final debate on Friday, June 20th against the China Gold team. The Idaho Mountain River Green team took second place in a split decision with eight judges voting for China Gold and 5 judges voting for Idaho Mountain River Green a team made up of five Southeast Idaho students.
Two other Idaho teams reached the quarter finals. An Idaho team has never reached this level of the competition before in the 100 year history of the event.
Congratulations Idaho delegation for representing the state in magnificent fasion!
DES MOINES, Iowa (KIFI) — An Idaho debate team made up of five southeastern Idaho high school students has made its way to the finals of the World Schools Debate Competition.
This is the first time in the 100-year history of the competition that any team from Idaho has made it this far.
Three teams from southeast Idaho made it to the quarter finals with one team reaching the finals.
Students participating in the finals include:
- Josephine Preucil, Twin Falls High School
- Madilynn Evans, Madison High School
- Kasey Wheeler, Blackfoot High School
- Sammy Mowrer, Highland High School
- Olivia Wakeman, Thunder Ridge High School
The Idaho students will compete against the Chinese team Friday morning, June 20th, at 8:00 a.m. Mountain time. If you'd like to watch the debate LIVE, you can livestream it here: https://live.speechanddebate.org
However, today these students witnessed a disruption, causing a lot of panic this afternoon.
A Wyoming man was arrested after he entered the stage area during events earlier today at the EMCW Expo Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
As reported by WOI in Des Moines, 22-year-old Jayden Michael Roccaforte from Cheyenne, Wyoming, is charged with one count of disorderly conduct and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
Roccaforte went up on stage carrying a backpack and asked the audience if they wanted to hear a joke.
At that point, another person at the microphone stand told everyone to "run and get out."
No weapons were found, and no one was injured.
More than 10,000 people from schools across the country are in attendance at the event, which ends on Friday.
This includes teams from 31 Idaho high schools, including 14 high schools from southeastern Idaho.
