Come Celebrate Eloquence 2025

 

AV Speech with Nation Leading 5 Finalists at Harvard

With over 4,000 competitors, the Harvard Invitational has become a mid-season national test for programs from across the country. AVHS was one of just two or three schools with five different finalists! Congratulations to Hayden Johnson (DI), Brandon Vergara Villalobos and Hayden Johnson (DUO), Theo Pollock (OO), Isra Yasin (OO), and Iman Mohamed (OO).

 

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THE NEED FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT IS GREAT for so many wonderful reasons. The number one reason is that we have more students bravely choosing to participate in speech & debate. However, more student participation does not mean more funding.

OUR IMMEDIATE NEED IS FUNDING FOR COACHES! We started the year with 105 students across speech and debate, many of who have never done a co-curricular activity before, so the need for more helpful adults to guide them is great!

YOUR TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION WILL BE MADE TO THE AVHS SPEECH & DEBATE ALUMNI FOUNDATION ON BEHALF OF THE PROGRAM.

 

DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI HONOREE

Learn more about our Alumni Foundation

 

2023-2024 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

2024 NATIONAL INDIVIDUAL EVENTS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS - TEAM SWEEPSTAKES CHAMPIONS!

2024 MSHSL STATE TOURNAMENT (SPEECH)

  • MSHSL SPEECH SECTION 6AA CHAMPIONS!

  • 13 STATE QUALIFIERS

  • 10 STATE MEDALISTS

  • STATE CHAMPIONS in ORATORY!

  • STATE RUNNER-UP in PROSE & INFORMATIVE!

  • TEAM SWEEPSTAKES RUNNER-UP!

  • 5 SENIORS NAMED TO THE MSCA STATE SPEECH ALL-STATE TEAM!

2024 NATIONAL SPEECH & DEBATE ASSOCIATION (NSDA) QUALIFIERS

  • NSDA CENTRAL MINNESOTA DISTRICT SPEECH CHAMPIONS!

  • CENTRAL MN DISTRICT CHAMPIONS IN P.O.I., DUO, and ORATORY!

  • 18 SPEECH & DEBATE STUDENTS QUALIFIED TO THE 2024 NSDA NATIONAL TOURNAMENT

23-24 SEASON MILESTONES

  • BURSTING AT THE SEAMS - 90 students were invited to join the team at the start of our competition season, after another record number of students auditioned.

  • TEAM SWEEPSTAKES - 10 YEAR RECORD - Individually, AVHS competitors continue to amass results and stats that place them at the top of their event in MN and nationally. As a team in MN, with so many large competitive programs, team sweepstakes can be decided on the flip of a coin. This season, as a team, AV won the more tournaments than any previous year in the last 10 years. Of the tournaments competed at that award team results. AV was:

    • Tournament Champions at 11 of 17 tournaments!

    • Tournament Champions OR Runner-up at 16 of 17 tournaments!

  • DIVERSITY- INCLUSION - BELONGING are north-star values of our program. This season we are grateful to have more diverse voices sharing messages and stories than ever before. AV Speech & Debate for the second year in a row the program is comprised of a majority of minority students, which is significant in that this level of representation is a reflection of the demographics of our broader student community at AVHS. Students know that no matter what they look like or where they come from — our program is a place where they can belong.

  • SERVANT LEADERSHIP has been at the forefront of the set of skills our program wishes to develop with in our team members, So, this year we continued our commitment to giving back through team service projects through organizations like Feed My Starving Children.