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The Morristown Hamblen High School West Speech and Debate program had an all-around great experience at the National Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona last month, with one student ranking 24 in the nation in his respective category.

Suzanne Terry, program director, discussed the trip and how well it went.

“It was a fantastic trip,” Terry said. “The only downside was it took 25 hours to get home,” she joked. “It’s nothing like sitting in the airport with a bunch of teenagers, but overall they were troopers.”

Terry went on to explain how this group of students were helpful and also dedicated to bettering themselves.

“They took initiative and helped out anyway they could. We rented a house for the tournament and whenever we asked them to do a task or help out in any way they were all hands on deck.

“I would regularly give them time to themselves and explore and they always would use that time to practice and that just goes to show their work ethic and determination.

“At the competition anytime they weren’t performing they were watching others perform and learning how they can work on their skills.”

As the competition came to an end, the team was met with great success. Holden Smith, a rising junior, broke out double octal in storytelling and Jeffery Glover, rising senior, was 24th in the nation for dramatic interpretation.

“I am so proud of both of those boys they worked so hard,” Terry said. “They practiced constantly and gave their all and these distinctions just shows the amount of effort they put in.”

Although the team was met with success, it was the memories they made together that Terry cherishes.

“To see a part of the world that we usually never see was pretty amazing,” she said. “The kids kept talking about the landscape and how it was so different in the desert. We stayed in Mesa and had cacti and agave plants in the backyard.

“We went to Tonto National Park and saw rolling deserts with cacti and we were all so amazed. We went to a place called Strawberry and had empanadas on the side of the road, its memories like that which I will cherish forever.”

Terry has officially retired from the team, but she said its students like the ones on the team that made her career worthwhile.

“Holden was talking about wanting a book to help him prepare for the upcoming competition season and on the way back from the trip Jeffrey had ordered the book to give him when we all went back. Things like that show you how kind hearted are the kids I worked with and it makes the countless hours I’ve dedicated to the team all worth it.”

Although Terry won’t be back in the fall, she still wishes the team the best on their future endeavors.

“I’m sad to go, but I have high hopes and high expectations for the program and what it will bring in the future, because with those students, whatever bar you set they will rise to it.”