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Palmetto Senior High School's Emilie Keldie has a gift
for gab, one that's catapulted her to a fifth-in-the-nation rank in
the debate category of humorous interpretation.
Emilie Keldie holds her finalist trophy from the National Speech
Tournament
Keldie achieved the lofty standing by participating in
the Lincoln Financial Group's national debate tournament in June at
Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, sponsored by the
National Forensic League. She went through a week of debating with 296
competitors and come out with a fifth place finish.
To get to the nationals, Keldie worked hard throughout
the year, traveling around the country to participate in debate
tournaments in Chicago, Atlanta, Texas, Boston and cities all across
Florida. At each debate she accumulated points that in the end allowed
her to participate in and win the state finals, and go on to the
nationals.
Keldie says her category of humorous interpretation is
similar to a one-act play and she must memorize a 10-minute script. A
judge rates the performance against six competitors in each round.
"What I do is I play all of the characters
myself," she said, "using different stances, voices and
mannerisms. What's hard about it is differentiating so that people
understand what I'm doing."
Keldie, going into her senior year at Palmetto High, gives her teacher
Jeff Brown all of the credit for her success.
"He's amazing," she said. "I wouldn't
even be in debate if were not for him. He is just the best
teacher."
Keldie, the daughter of Vickie and Richard Siegel,
says she plans to attend college, but has not yet decided where she'll
go. She says she anticipates landing a scholarship as a result of her
success in debate.
"The experiences that I've had, the people I've
met," she said, "it exposes you to the whole country and you
get to travel everywhere. It helps you so much; I can express myself
better now, I'm more confident. I get up and talk in front of people
and it's just totally normal for me. And, I have so much fun doing
it."
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