Two Newark high school students placed in the top five of the 2024 National Speech & Debate Tournament , a competition that drew more than 6,700 students from 1,500 high school across the country.
In the “Prose” category , Amaya Wilson of North Star Academy’s Washington Park High School ranked number two in the nation, while Malakai Yepes of University High School clinched fifth place.
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Wilson performed “Finding Me” based on excerpts of Viola Davis’ memoir of the same name. As a senior who started participating in speech as a freshman, she said the win was a culmination of hard work, dedication, and true enjoyment of participating on the team.
Wilson served as the club’s president during her junior and senior years and said she loves to mentor the team’s younger members.
For Yepes, this win wasn’t the culmination of many years of competing. He was a newcomer this year to speech, and only found himself on stage after his coach Saul Grullon was asking around the English department for recommendations.