ABOVE: From left, Coach Kathleen Walker, Coach Erik Walker, Isaac Thomas (12), Dominick Lund-May (12), Belinda Lutterman (11), Leon Yang (10), Allie Streit (10), Oliver Thedens (12) and Grace Simpson (12) celebrate as Lutterman holds a plaque certifying Fairmont as a School of Honor for finishing top 40 out of 1,500 schools at the NSDA National Speech Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa. Submitted photo.

FAIRMONT – Over a week’s time, the Fairmont High School Speech Team put forth a record-shattering effort for the school at the NSDA National Speech Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.

Speech Coach Erik Walker said Fairmont has had a speech team since it was reclassified from Declamation to Speech at the Minnesota State High School League level in the mid-1980s. This was only their ninth-ever time qualifying to be one of 1,500 schools across America at nationals.

Of those 1,500 schools, Fairmont’s team of seven students finished in the top 40, its highest-ever finish. This showing was enough to recognize it as a School of Honor.

“It’s an honor to be in the company of stellar speech programs,” Speech Coach Kathleen Walker said. “I’m so proud to have the group who’s a part of the first time getting that.”

The group is spearheaded by Sophomore Leon Yang, who finished fourth out of 275 finalists in the Humorous Interpretation event. This is an improvement from last year when he finished just outside the semi-finals in 15th place.

With a fire lit, Yang said he knew he wanted to craft a killer script for this year’s competitions.

“We picked a more difficult script to cut and perform this year, which paid off in the end,” he said. “It takes hard work, but I definitely improved my performance and overall how I speak. I’ve improved a lot with, like, more physical humor, just like using my space.”

In humorous interpretation, the task is to take a piece of media that already exists and cut it down into a 10-minute humorous narrative. Yang chose the 88-minute 2007 movie Hot Rod written by Pam Brady. When creating a short piece from a film, he said the format has to be very defined.

“There has to be a clear conflict, a clear climax, and then a clear resolution,” Yang said. “Everything has to be given to the judges in a way they can understand.”

In addition to format, Yang said character work is also crucial.

“Does your character stay flat the entire script or does he go through emotions and obstacles, grow as a character, keep you interested,” he said. “That’s one of the biggest things we try to put in.”

Before the final round, the finalists were advised by actor Josh Gad. By getting to that point in the competition, Gad said the focus shouldn’t be on the competition, but on the performance itself.

“I focused on sharing my speech with everyone and keeping them interested,” Yang said. “Making them laugh, I think that was most important.”

When he found out he had placed fourth in the nation, Yang said he was very happy.

“I think I was more elated to find out I finaled than I got fourth because just the achievement of finaling was enough for me,” he said. “Being able to share my speech on such a big stage was the main accomplishment for me. That was my biggest feeling.”

This finish means he auto-qualifies for the 2026 NSDA National Speech Tournament as well.

Just because the season is over doesn’t mean Speech has left participants’ minds. The opposite is true, as Speech has worked itself into how students and coaches view media and the world around them.

“I go to Barnes Noble and I’m like, ‘Oh, I could use these for speech,'” Upcoming Senior Belinda Lutterman said.

“My mom was here to visit,” Walker said. “We were like, ‘What movie should we watch?’ Kathleen [Walker] was like, ‘The one that is most likely to be a speech.'”

Upcoming Junior Allie Streit said even when she’s watching TikToks, she’ll get inspiration for potential speech topics based on what shows up.

With this view, Speech Coach Kathleen Walker said everyone’s already thinking of what to do and how to improve next year.

“The second we were done with nationals, on our way home in the wee hours of the morning, we were already talking about ideas for next year,” she said. “They don’t want to stop. They love what they do. I love coaching kids who love performing and improving. Having a speech team like this is something I never dreamed of as a high schooler from a tiny, small town.”

In addition to Yang, Seniors Grace Simpson and Oliver Thedens made it to the Octofinal Round and placed in the Top 60 duos in the nation for the second year in a row.

Senior Dominick Lund-May participated in United States Extemporaneous Speaking and Impromptu.

Senior Isaac Thomas participated in Storytelling and Extemporaneous Commentary.

Junior Belinda Lutterman participated in Original Oratory and Impromptu.

Sophomore Allie Streit participated in Expository and Impromptu.