Tea Area High School’s Ella Cambier earns fourth at State

Brookings High School hosted the 2025 South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) State Debate and Individual Events Tournament on March 7-8. The competition brought together teams and individuals from across the state to showcase their skills in various events, including Lincoln-Douglas Debate, extemporaneous speaking, informative speaking, original oratory, and public forum debate.

Tea Area High School junior Ella Cambier made history for her school by placing fourth in Class A Informative Speaking, marking the first time in over six years that a TAHS student has reached the finals in an individual event.

Several other Tea Area students also competed at the tournament. Brody Miller participated in Original Oratory, James Hitzemann competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking, Jaxon Johanneson took part in United States Extemporaneous Speaking, Trista Smith and Zaiden Johnson teamed up in Public Forum Debate, and Kylia Voigt competed in Informative Speaking.

Despite not bringing home multiple awards, Tea Area’s debate coach, Loren (Visser) Bauder, expressed pride in the team’s efforts and optimism for the future.

“Although we did not win many awards, I am proud of my students and their work. We have a very young team, so we will only get better from here on out,” Bauder said.