Recent grad finishes second in national speech competition

Tanner Jones, Edina High School (EHS) class of 2018, finished second in U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking at the National Speech and Debate Association's (NSDA) National Tournament, held in Fort Lauderdale June 18-22. Coached by Hayden Uihlein, Mark Allseits and Joe Schmitt, Tanner competed against approximately 250 competitors over five days of competition, finishing second behind a student from Plano West High School, Texas.

EHS speech and debate students who attended the NSDA national tournament were required to qualify earlier this spring at the regional tournament. Junior Mark Kivimaki also represented EHS in U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking. Junior Joshua Ding and freshman Claire Anderson-McElligott represented EHS in policy debate. 

In addition to a $500 college scholarship awarded at the NSDA tournament, Tanner also qualified to participate in the Great Communicator Debate Series Tournament in July at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Orange County, California. He received an all-expenses paid trip to the library where he will compete against seven other students. All of the students will receive a minimum $1,500 scholarship, and the eight competitors will receive a total of $50,000 in scholarships. Tanner will be attend Dartmouth College this fall, where he plans to compete in both speech and debate.