Three TAF Academy speech competitors headed to national tournament
Published 2:00 pm Saturday, April 2, 2016
Three TAF Academy students have qualified for the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah, after competing late last month in the Western Washington Speech and Debate District Tournament in Auburn.
Senior Zende Jacobs Kalyan qualified in Programmed Oral Interpretation, as did Junior Mahlet Tiruneh. Senior Angelia Miranda qualified in Original Oratory. This will be the second national tournament for the team and the second appearance for both Mahlet and Angelia.
The TAF Academy Speech Team will compete against the best high school speakers in the country at the world’s largest academic competition, The National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament, in Salt Lake City from June 12-17. In order to fund this exciting opportunity, the team has kicked fundraising into high gear, creating a special web page to showcase to the community what they are all about. To learn more about their program and the opportunity to support the education of these talented students, visit technology-access-foundation-academy.ed.co.
TAF Academy is a project-based, STEM school in Federal Way Public Schools. The school was founded in the 2008-09 school year in a public-private partnership between the Technology Access Foundation and Federal Way Public Schools. The Speech Team was founded in the 2011-12 school year. In just five years of competition, the team has grown quickly, placing fourth as a team at the 3A state tournament last year. In spite of being a young program and drawing from one of the smallest high school populations in the state, TAF Academy competes successfully against some of the most established speech and debate programs in Washington.
