Powell High School senior Allie Gilliatt sat down in front of a background covered in the Powell Panthers logo with a smile on her face and a shirt that read “Casper.” She hand stitched the lettering herself.

After the school bell rang on March 28, Gilliatt met her family and friends in the library where they celebrated her speech and debate scholarship with Casper College. Gilliatt had already signed the official paperwork for her all-tuition-paid scholarship, but she signed again in front of the happy crowd. When all the pomp and circumstance had been completed, her teammates huddled around her, laughing as they asked for signatures. She happily obliged. 

Gilliatt first became involved with speech and debate as an eighth grade student at Powell Middle School, and she continued with the activity in high school. This year while serving as a co-captain with students Emma Johnson and Isabella Gomez she placed second overall and third on the district level in Drama at this year’s state competition and qualified for not one but two national tournaments.

Gilliatt was not originally looking for a speech and debate scholarship, but when Casper College’s coaches reached out, she was impressed by their coaching style and communication, she said, so she decided to look further into it.

This season, Gilliatt competed in Drama but she has competed in many different events throughout her speech and debate career. 

“I’ve done a little bit of everything. I think my freshman and sophomore year, I started out with Humor, then I tried Duo, I’ve done a lot of Impromptu, I’ve done Informative. I’ve even tried debate events like Public Forum,” Gilliatt said. “But I really have enjoyed Drama the most, I think that’s what I’ve been able to excel at the most.”

When she gets to Casper each team member will compete in four events, and the events are “a little bit different there,” Gilliatt said. She plans to work with her coaches to figure out what her four events will be, but she will continue to pursue Drama and has an interest in Informative. 

“It’s an incredible opportunity because I get my education paid for, which will make a big impact on the rest of my career that I can get my associates paid for,” Gilliatt said. “And then that I can be paying for it by doing something that I really love, and I’m passionate about, and I get to be getting better at that at the same time. It’s all very, very cool.”