Gilbert Talks Was Double the Sensation

Bryce Walker, Staff Writer
March 7, 2023

March 2nd, 2023 marked the second annual “Gilbert Talks” soapbox speech event. The panel of speakers increased from four to seven this year, almost doubling the participation from last year. The speakers panel consisted of Kaeden Morgan (America is Burning), Destiny Ayala (Human Rights), Elain Medrano (Justice), Mauricio Correa (Mental Health in Teens), Jennesis Vazquez (Depression in Teens), Omar Zamora (Mental Health in Teens), and Autumn Baker (Music).

There were five judges on the panel this year. The judges panel consisted of Lisa Holley, Monica Sanchez from the public library, Ms. Tarica Jackson from the TGR Foundation, Ms. Adriana Campos, Ms. Karina Angel.

Of the seven students who presented their speeches, one was voted winner by the judges panel, and one received the Student Choices award. The winner of Gilbert Talks was Kaeden Morgan, who gave a speech about raising awareness about his criticisms of American society; and Destiny was awarded the student choice award. The event was live -streamed in all of our classrooms during 3rd period.

District coach, Ms. Autumn Browne, is going to be meeting with Kaeden in preparation for the district wide competition which is going to be held at Loara High School on March 23rd.

Members of the Civic Engagement team were pleased with this year’s outcomes. Ms. Arvizu shared her positive sentiments, “I felt very proud of what the students are capable of and what they discovered they can do with their voice!”