Speaking out loud. Wenatchee High School senior Ashley Techavimol organized a debate camp for seventh and eighth grade girls. The goal for this program is to influence girls to speak up and use their voice. In the process, Techavimol taught these girls basic skills of argumentation and persuasive speaking.

“There was a lot of planning and I had to reserve space in the English hall in WHS. The project was advertising around the middle school. That was tough,” Techavimol said.

This project is to help Techivamol win the Girl Scout gold award, which is the equivalent of the Boy Scout Eagle Scout project. The camp was Techavimol’s gold award project and it benefited the debate team at WHS.

Debate Club students, including senior Serena Fitzgerald, junior Arturo Diaz, sophomore Vivian Noyd, and freshman Sebastian Passion participated in this project, helping Techavimol’s project come to life.

“I saw a lot of potential in the girls and it was also kind of nice to see how nervous they reacted to things because it reminded me how I felt when I was their age,” Passion said.

The Debate Club spent April 13-18 and went to Foothills and Pioneer middle schools. They spent the days playing speech and acting games with the girls.

“We made a girl recite Green Eggs and Ham in a Southern Baptist preacher accent. That was fun,” Techivamol said.

This project helps young women find the confidence in themselves to use the voice within. Techivamol wants to influence them that speaking up is important for their generations and many more in the future.
“It’s important to remember that everyone is scared, and the likelihood of someone judging you is slim to none. People want to know what you have to say,” Techivamol said.