HALEY KOLSETH AND JORDAN MACARTHUR

As the 2015-2016 school year is slowly on its way to wrapping up, so are all the clubs and extracurricular activities our school has to offer. State is a perfect opportunity for most clubs to go out with a bang. From Speech and Debate to DECA to FBLA, the school is buzzing with excitement to show off everything they’ve been practicing towards and learning about since August.

Good thing MVHS is full of hard workers, because preparing for state is anything but easy. Club sponsors at Mountain Vista spend immense amounts of time trying to help push students do their best on the road to state and everyday.

“[All year] students work with others to hone their pieces for Speech and Debate. We review ballots and look for constructive feedback,” Speech and Debate coach Shannon Vance said.

The hard work the Speech and Debate kids and their coach put in is something the members of FBLA and DECA know all too well.

While the coaches monitor the work being produced, the students in these arduous clubs have to go and put themselves in competitions and hope that they are able to get through districts and onto state. Mountain Vista boasts their ability to be good at many different things—

not only sports, but also from their more academic based clubs.

Juniors Maddy Decker and Maria Nenova are both DECA officers who qualified for state in February.

“State is the time to prove yourself,” said Decker. “You’re surrounded by the best [individuals] in the state who all hold a mutual love for DECA, and the Broadmoor is a great bonding opportunity for our chapter.”

“[State] means everything, it’s the beginning or end to my DECA experience for the year,” Nenova said.

The Speech and Debate state competition in March is what club members strive for for the entire season. For sophomore Colter Giem and senior Peter Leonard, state is the end goal for this school year.

“Getting to state in debate is important to me because it would effectively mean the culmination of everything I’ve worked for this year. All the effort I’ve put in to debate this year is all pointing toward the state tournament, and getting there would make everything worthwhile,” Giem said.

“It’s a chance to see friends from across the state and compete with some of the best debaters in colorado. It’s humbling and reinforcing at the same time and I’m glad I’ve been able to compete twice,” Leonard said.

Members of FBLA have been practicing and preparing for the state competition in April since the first practice of the season. President, senior Amy Zhou, not only works hard for herself, but for the sake of the entire club.

“It’d be great to end my last year of FBLA by qualifying for state again. It’s a memorable experience and I’d like to see some of the people I met at nationals at state this year,” Zhou said.

Mountain Vista has the ability to make something as challenging as state look easy, and these clubs don’t disappoint.