An Interview: Iliana Miranda, Wildwood Middle High School

Hear our interview with Iliana Miranda of Wildwood Middle High School, one of our school partners in Wildwood, Florida!

c/o Iliana Miranda

Tell us about your school and its team.
We are a 4th year speech and debate team in a Title 1 rural town in Central Florida. Our school is 7-12th grade, with a total population of 700 students. We are a 100% free lunch county. Our students are academic leaders, music students, athletes, and bilingual.

How does the team work at your school?
We attempt to share solid, researched debate with our community to make the world a more united place. We compete in Central Florida due to financial burdens. We fundraise 100% of our tournament fees, accommodations, food, and gas. Our kids are dedicated to the events they compete in and push each other to be the best versions of themselves.

Which events do you participate in?
Declamation (DEC), Expository (EXP), Impromptu (IMP), International Extemporaneous Speaking (IX), Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking (MX), Original Oratory (OO), Pro Con Challenge (PCC), United States Extemporaneous Speaking (USX), Big Questions (BQ), Congressional Debate (House & Senate) (CON), Extemporaneous Debate (XDB), Public Forum Debate (PF), World Schools Debate (WS)

How could additional funding help your school?
Funding will go towards tournament fees, gas and tolls, team shirts, and food during tournaments. These are our biggest expenses. If I take even just a third of our team to a tournament on a Saturday, it is a cost of about $450 for a local event. Budgeting our funding could last us through 4 live tournaments and 2 online tournaments to impact all of our middle, novice, and varsity teams.