From left, George Matthew Gutierrez, Alexa Trevino, Bianca Rios and Nicholas Allex, all students at Gutierrez Middle School of Arts and Sciences, delivered prize-winning performances at the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Middle School competition. (Travis M. Whitehead/Valley Morning Star)
HARLINGEN — They’ve just put Gutierrez and Vela middle schools on the map.
Students from both schools made quite an impression at the National Speech and Debate Association Middle School Nationals June 7 – 9 with their performances in the categories of Dramatic Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation and Poetry.
“It’s honestly a bit shocking,” said Catalina Cabello-Corona, 13, an eighth grader at Vela Middle School, who’s powerful performance in Dramatic Interpretation earned her the ranking of National Champion.
“I feel really great and I’m really proud of myself,” said Bianca Rios, an eighth grader at Gutierrez Middle School of Arts and Sciences.
Bianca and fellow Gutierrez students Alexa Trevino, Nicholas Allex and George Matthew Gutierrez were so good their school was named one of the top five middle schools in the nation. The school received the Speech Schools of Excellence award for their work.
“What a way to finish the year!” said Aracely Navarro, fine arts specialist for the Harlingen school district.
“It’s a first for Gutierrez and we are over the moon,” Navarro said. “I think that it came down to them perfecting all of their events, making sure all of their events, both the videos they submitted and the live events, were perfected. I think that’s why they got so many high ranks.”
George Matthew Gutierrez, who placed third in the nation for poetry, felt “accomplished.” He qualified to go to nationals in Albuquerque two years ago, but the COVID pandemic ended those plans. The following year it was more of a showcase than a competition, he said. This last year as an eighth grader at Gutierrez Middle School was his last chance, and he made it count.
“I really pushed myself this year because this was my last year in middle school,” said George Matthew, 13, who will attend the Dr. Abraham P. Cano Freshman Academy this fall.
Alexa Trevino, 13, and Nicholas Allex, 12, both placed in the top 12 in the nation for their performance in Humorous Interpretation.
“I feel a lot of pride,” said Alexa, an eighth grader at Gutierrez.
“I’m very proud of myself and all of my peers,” she said. “I’m glad that we can even have the opportunity to do this. I have to thank all my teachers and all the ones that made it happen.”
Their drama teacher, Annemarie Alaniz, said she’s always known her students had talent and a strong work ethic.
But …
“Actually having it happen is a wonderful amazing surprise that you can’t really prepare for,” she said. “I’m so, so proud of them.”
At Vela, Marlee Garza and Azaria Castillo took second place in the nation for their duo interpretation.
“That piece was about a woman who was a victim of misogyny by her husband,” said Azaria, 12. “She was labeled and abused and placed in an asylum.”
She and her partner Marlee, 14, were surprised they ranked so high.
“It was really awesome because honestly Marlee and I were looking at how many entries there were and we didn’t think we were going to final,” she said. “We put in a lot of work, and we got coached a lot.”
Marlee said the duo interpretation, which was in a broader sense about women’s rights in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, taught her more about the subject of which she’s passionate.
“I think it really helped me learn a lot about our history that I didn’t know,” said Marlee. “With the researching of the piece, it made me realize a lot of stuff about women’s rights that I didn’t know before. I’m glad to be informed about it now.”
Marlee also made national champion in poetry.
“My poetry piece was about sexual assault in a young woman,” she said. “I’m a very strong believer in women’s rights, and I’m really proud of that part of myself. When I saw these poetry pieces that I wanted to do, I thought they really reflected what I wanted to say and how to say it.”
Another national finalist at Vela is Ava Salgado who performed the poem “The Abridged History of America”. She did such a great job she was ranked sixth in the nation.
“I’m super excited and grateful to all my teammates, especially Ms. Bender,” said Ava, 13, an eighth grader.
Julia Bender is the theatre director at Vela.
“Ms. Bender has put in so much time and so much work to help us with our pieces,” Ava said. “I’m just really proud of all of us because I know we took a lot of time and effort, but it was eventually worth it.”
Bender commended her students for their hard work and achievement after being somewhat stymied for two years by the pandemic.
“It’s brought some challenges, but I think our team has definitely persevered and they worked very hard to get where they are now,” she said. “The fact that we have two champions from the same school, one in Dramatic Interpretation and one in Poetry Interpretation, and a total of four finalists overall is unheard of in the speech and debate community and especially in Harlingen.”
