On the 16th of October at 5pm, Yodelin Broth Company hosted a Benefit Dinner to support the Cascade High School Speech and Debate team.
The Speech and Debate team consists of around ten members, who all put in countless hours to write, memorize, and perform their work.
The team has competed at the Speech State tournament for the past twenty-four years, making this club an important part of CHS’s history.
The Cascade group competes against teams throughout all of Washington State and has always placed extremely well. Last year, at State Qualifiers, Breanna Loomis (alumni) and Coal Fiano (11) placed a strong first in Dual Interpretation; Kate Smith (10) and Rhonan Allen (12) placed second.
Thanks to Yodelins’ Benefit Dinner, the Speech and Debate team managed to raise $750 for tournament fees, travel costs, and vehicle expenses.
Not only has the speech team seen many years of success, but the debate team has also been growing in strength. The Public Forum duo of Mia Schons (11) and Breanna Loomis placed first at districts in 2023-24 and went onto Debate State for the first time in years.
With the district’s recent budget pitfalls, it’s been hard for the team to scrape up the funds for this season, but thanks to Yodelins’ Benefit Dinner, the Speech and Debate team managed to raise $750 for tournament fees, travel costs, and vehicle expenses.
“This was an amazing thing that Yodelin did for us. The money will help get us out of debt and into the tournaments,” explained Coal Fiano, the current Speech and Debate President.
Previously the club was $505 in debt to the school, because of travel costs. With the help from the benefit dinner, the club can now afford to pick themselves up from debt and get on the road to secure another victory for Cascade. At the moment the club is preparing for their first tournament of the year on November 2nd at Ephrata High School.
After the long-standing speech and debate team coach, Mr. Dwayne Allen, resigned from the position last year, Mrs. Nicol Graham-Mathers, a local parent, jumped on the opportunity to help out with the club. She is the new Speech and Debate coach, and she is helping the club with future funding events including an Open-Mic night and bake sales. The Speech and Debate team is confident they can make it to State again this year thanks to the helping hand from local restaurant Yodelin Broth Co.
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