Guymon High School junior Gustavo Ruiz is headed to the National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament in June. Ruiz qualified to represent GHS and the West Oklahoma NSDA District earlier this month in Program of Oral Interpretation. The event requires the competitor to create a program of material from prose, poetry and drama that focuses on a theme of the competitor’s choice. Ruiz’s POI centers on the impact that mothers have in their children’s lives.
Ruiz topped 35 other competitors to qualify for the opportunity to compete for a national championship.
The National Speech Tournament this year will be held in Fort Lauderdale, FL. During the third week of June and fund raising has already begun to finance the transportation, lodging, entry fees and other expenses. GHS Speech/Debate coach Michael Patterson is directing those that want to help fund Ruiz’s trip to compete to the project’s Go Fund Me web page:
https://www.gofundme.com/guymon-high-speech-nationals-2018
GHS last qualified students to Nationals in 2016. Ruiz becomes the 33rd Nationals qualifier in the program’s history.