Aaron Owen, a junior at North Bend Central, in North Bend, Neb., took sixth place in extemporaneous speaking in the Class C1 state speech meet at the University of Nebraska  (Kearney (UNK). Aaron is the son of Glen and Jeanne (Vawter) Dirkschneider of Scribner, Neb. and the grandson of Gerald and Shirley Vawter of Westboro, Mo.
Extemporaneous speakers draw their speech topics on site, then have one hour to write and prepare before performing it for judges.  In the first round Aaron placed second of the six speakers on the topic of “Should Benjamin Netanyahu resign?”  In the second round Aaron again placed second of six speakers on the topic of “Will Paul Ryan have a political future after the Trump presidency?”  These preliminary performances earned him a spot in the finals.  In the final round, where he earned sixth place, his topic was “What will be the results of the growing alliance between Russia and China?”
Aaron was undefeated during the regular speech season, winning extemp gold in all seven of the meets, including the East Husker Conference (South division championship).