Powell High School’s speech and debate team continues to build a legacy of excellence.

Allie Gilliatt, Liz Peterson, Emma Johnson and Maggie Atkinson will be joining PHS grad Aiden Chandler and senior Dacovney Brochu as Academic All Americans. Chandler and Brochu were the first and second Powell speech and debate All Americans, respectively.

“I think it’s really, it’s kind of an honor to keep it going, especially knowing that like, during my time on the team, we had our first Academic All American,” Peterson said. “And that was a big deal, because I guess we didn’t even know that that was possible for a team our size and so then to continue that and show even the younger members that that’s also possible for them, I think it’s a really cool experience.”

Gilliatt sees the growing trend of speech and debate Academic All Americans at Powell High School as evidence of continued improvement and team performance.

The program has come a long way. Coach Nicole Maier Reitz said that when she started roughly five years ago the team had only five members and was in danger of not continuing. Now the team has 22 members registered with the National Speech and Debate Association. Maier Reitz said the number of students fluctuates between 20 and 30.

Aside from having five current Academic All Americans, a title that only 2% of speech and debate students hold, Powell’s team had success at the national qualifiers and has strong freshman talent. 

Four members are qualified for the national tournament this summer: Maggie Atkinson, Emma Johnson, Isabella Gomez and Salem Brown. Another four students, Liz Peterson, Emma Johnson (for a separate event), Kyra Morrow and Allie Gilliatt hold first alternate positions for nationals. This means that if someone within the state is not able to attend then these four students will get the first chance. Also at the national qualifiers, Powell won second place sweepstakes in debate and congressional. In order to earn their spot in the congressional debate competition Gomez alone scored second highest in points against four teams. Ahead of the nationals competition in Phoenix this July, the team is currently seeking donations to help with expenses.

Maier Reitz applauded the team’s skill and achievement — a plaque is being made to honor the six Academic All Americans and future students to come. There’s more talent ready to step up. Maier Reitz said as a freshman Morrow has 200 points and fellow freshman Bryson Weddell has 120 points — if they earn 750 points by their junior year and meet additional academic requirements their names will also soon join the plaque. 

“We have our plaque, and we’re going to start making history,” Maier Reitz said.