Five first-year Eagles honored at speech meet

Contributed photo
The New York Mills speech team competed in the Perham Jacket Classic at Perham High School on Saturday, Feb. 24. Payton Lausten took first place in Prose Finals at the meet.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, the New York Mills speech team competed at the Perham Jacket Classic at Perham High School. 

Payton Lausten* placed first in Prose Finals with Tamira Ireland Stone’s young adult novel, “Every Last Word.”

Brooke Sonsalla* placed fourth in Discussion Finals and sixth in Original Oratory Finals with a persuasive speech she wrote about abolishing supervised release and earned-incentive credits. 

Julia Johnson placed sixth in Great Speeches Finals with her analysis of Emma Watson’s speech for gender equality.

Anika Mursu earned superior in Prose with Maggie Damken’s short story, “The Bee Thing.”

Ella Holmes* earned superior in Poetry interpretation with a collection of poems about healing from sexual assault. 

Simon Resing* earned superior in Informative Speaking with his speech on the future of nuclear fusion (Resing was just one spot away from Finals).

Soren Stout* earned superior in Discussion. This weekend’s discussion tasks were about the challenges of interpersonal communication. 

* Denotes a first year competing in Speech.