Jean Gordon
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 1:43 pm
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East Rutherford student, Nathan Parton, participated in the National Speech and Debate Association's National Tournament that was held during the week of June 14. This year's tournament was held entirely online due to Covid-19 safety concerns and featured the best students in their respective categories from across the country.
Nathan is only the second East Rutherford student to qualify for the national competition.
Although Nathan was eliminated in the preliminary rounds, he did muster at least one first place ballot.
"I'm very proud of Nate. He's accrued the highest NSDA point total of any cavalier during my tenure and he's currently ranked 3rd in the State in his division, said his coach J. Patrick Moss. "He's a big part of the reason East Rutherford was recognized as the top performing small school in North Carolina."
Moss said Nathan is an executive officer and has did an amazing job representing East Rutherford and Rutherford County in the National Arena.
"Speech and Debate has been a really big part of my life for the past four years," Nathan said. "It has helped me come out of my shell and I got to meet a ton of people, make friends and have new experiences that really made the hard work worth it. My time with the team has been amazing and I don't think I could've asked for a better ending to my time than being able to compete at Nationals. It's something I never thought I'd get the chance to do."