Barbara Castillo, sophomore at Loretto Academy, she has been part of the Loretto community since she was in Pre-Kinder and she has been thankful for being able to attend such a warming and educational school.

Her experience at Loretto has allowed for her to grow and accomplish different things including placing fourth across four categories this year in speech and being the only sophomore to attend the state-wide competition.

Barbara said, “I actually used to have a speech impediment and I had to go to speech therapy for about two years as a child.

Speech therapy taught me how to speak phonetically but Loretto taught me how to find my voice.

Loretto taught me I was important and instilled a confidence in me which I am grateful for.”

Besides her active participation at Loretto, Barbara also partakes in NHI (National Hispanic Institute) in which she has placed “Elite Right” at the Great Debate event that usually takes place in the summer and second place at “Celebracion.”

Castillo’s great achievements have allowed for her to travel to a state speech and debate competition in Houston, Texas.

The competition began on March 14 and carried on until March 16.

In regards to her experience at the competition, Barbara said, “I met so many amazing competitors, and speech is something extremely amazing, who are so completely talented not from just El Paso that I have met throughout tournaments but from all around Texas.”

Speech has had a great impact on Barbara’s life and her speech teacher, Mr. Chavez taught her many of the things that she knows.

Barbara will continue to take part in Loretto’s speech and debate team during her remaining years of high school.

She hopes to continue her passion for speech and debate in college.