Birmingham—Nicholas Aranda, a senior at Holy Cross Catholic Academy, has been named as one of six finalists for the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Student of the Year award.
The finalists are chosen from among the seniors who were selected as District Student of the Year for each of the NSDA’s 109 regional districts. The winner will be announced at the NSDA national tournament in Birmingham on Friday, June 23. All finalists will be interviewed at the tournament by a panel of distinguished speech and debate coaches from throughout the country, who will then select the winner.
“I was literally on my way out of my office to head to Holy Cross for their Baccalaureate Mass when I received the email informing me that Nicholas had been selected as a finalist,” said Father Robert A. Busch, Ph.D., HCCA speech and debate coach. “This is an amazing honor for both Nicholas and for Holy Cross. It is a testimony to his passion for and dedication to speech and debate throughout his high school career, but it also is yet another recognition of the strength of HCCA’s speech and debate program and the quality of speech and debate competition in West Texas.”
The other finalists for NSDA’s National Student of the Year are:
• Derek Collins of Hattiesburg HS, Mississippi;
• Chloe Dennison, Asheville HS, North Carolina;
• Ricardo Flores, Americas HS, Texas;
• Michael Franklin, Summer Academy, Kansas; and,
• Olivia Shoemaker, Lakeville North HS, Minnesota.