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   This year, the Walker Talkers proudly made their way down to the MSHSL State Tournament held at Shakopee High School. After placing in the top three in the category of Prose, both Madison Kendrick & Elijah Cox worked tirelessly for their shot at earning a state medal.    

   After performing in three preliminary rounds with the other top speakers in their category, Elijah qualified for the final round with his selection from the memoir Happy People Are Annoying by Josh Peck. He left the tournament with a 6th place medal to add to his collection of impressive speech hardware. Although Madison did not qualify for the final round, she placed 10th overall with her piece Maid by Stephanie Land. 

   As our season comes to a close, we also want to recognize Abby Audette, our senior speaker that the team will bid adieu to this year. Abby joined WHA as a 9th grader after moving to our district from Connecticut. Since her move, she has participated in speech each year, performing in the categories of Storytelling, Extemporaneous Reading, and Informative. She competed at the 2023 state competition in the category of Extemporaneous Reading. Among the many accomplishments, Abby earned a “Wolf of the Week” award for her performance in the WHA Drama Department fall production of The Odd Couple and also earned Sourcewell’s “Student of Character” award for her outstanding efforts and leadership throughout her high school career. To say that she will be missed would be an understatement. 

   Although the state speech season has come to a close, both Madison and Elijah will continue to compete for the opportunity to perform at the National Speech & Debate tournament this summer in Iowa. In order to qualify, Madison and Elijah will have to compete at the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in Nebraska this May. They will be competing  with their Duo Interpretation piece from the film Stranger Than Fiction by Zach Helm, as well as Madison’s prose piece. If they earn top honors, they will compete in June for the national title amongst the many top speakers of the nation. We look forward to the experience and are hopeful for their success. 

   Lastly, this past season, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley hosted the 52nd Chuck Beckman Memorial. We were fortunate enough to have a multitude of sponsors for each of the final rounds that occurred: Deb Farrell, Robyn Wheeler, Mike Worcester, Liz Thompson, WHA Drama Department, Willow & Tristan Damar, Levi Capesius, Bradley Foster, Jackie Bruns,  Ann Noland, Megan Yeats, The Wilson Family, The Tabaka Family, The Schoeck Family,  Linsey McMurrin, Lydia Krueckeberg, Myrna Howes, TJs Floral, Theresa Bilben, and The Offerman Family. We were also blessed with a food donation from The Green Scene to feed the many judges, coaches, and drivers that support the attending schools. We are beyond grateful for the support received from this community. We look forward to continuing the Walker Talker legacy next year with returning speakers and new ones down the road. 

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