Greater Mankato Rotary Held Their Annual Speech and Debate April 24

Published On: April 29th, 20241.7 min readCategories: Local News, News

West HS team—(L to R)—Nora Smentek, Saarah Hassan, Quinn Mackie

The Greater Mankato Rotary held their annual Speech and Debate Banquet Wednesday, April 24th at Pioneer Bank Community Room in Mankato. 

The annual event is held to showcase the talents of local high school students who participate in speech and debate programs in our district. The nature of this extra-curricular activity is that it is often done in settings where the families of the students are not able to attend to cheer for their students. The successes of the students can often be over-looked by the school and the student’s peers. For this reason, we want to give the students a platform to share their success with the community and their families. 

East HS team—(L to R)—Kalan Kenward, Kate Laven, Asher Thole

At the event, the students have a chance to present to the audience over lunch and then each student is given a $300 check on behalf of The Greater Mankato Rotary to apply towards their choice of furthering their education. 

Loyola HS team—(L to R)—Erick Ferrer, Cora Koester

This year we honored three students from Mankato East, three students from Mankato West and two students from Mankato Loyola. A list of the students and their categories are listed below and a more complete bio is available upon request. 

Mankato East – Kalan Kenward – Humorous Interpretation 

Mankato East – Asher Thole – Humorous Interpretation 

Mankato East – Kate Laven – Storytelling 

Mankato West – Quinn Mackie – Extemporaneous Speaking 

Mankato West – Saarah Hassan – Dramatic Interpretation 

Mankato West – Nora Smentek – Great Speeches 

Mankato Loyola – Cora Koester – Extemporaneous Speaking Mankato Loyola – Erick Ferrer – Informative 

Mankato West – Coach – Amanda Able 

Mankato East – Coach – Jennelle Zarn 

Loyola – Copach – Tamara Zwaschka

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