Clarendon High School senior Josiah Howard spent his last week of high school unlike any of his classmates. He participated in the University Interscholastic League State Speech and Debate Meet held on the campus of the University of Texas from May 23 through May 26.
Howard qualified to participate in the State Lincoln Douglas Debate Meet after placing second in the Region 1 UIL Meet back in April held at WTAMU. He arrived in Austin as one of the 12 remaining debaters in UIL Class 2A. He participated in three preliminary state rounds, where he won each of those rounds and secured his spot as of the four medalists in class 2A.
Howard then debated in the state semifinal round, against an individual from San Saba High School, where each of the three judges voted in favor of Howard winning the round. The semifinal win qualified him for the UIL State 2A Final Lincoln Douglas Debate round.
During the state final debate, Howard debated hard but came up short with a judges’ decision of 2-1 in favor of his opponent from Mason High School.
Howard and Mrs. Elizabeth Zongker, debate coach, had the privilege of participating in the awards ceremony held at the Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium on the evening on May 25 where he was recognized and received his state silver medal in Lincoln Douglas Debate.
“I am beyond proud of the hard work and resilience Josiah showed during the state meet,” Mrs. Zongker said. “It was truly my privilege to get to experience this milestone with Josiah”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.