The IPAA/PESA Petroleum Academy at Southwest High School participated in the annual PowerPoint/Panel Speaking Competition on January 17-18, 2018.

The purpose of the event is to provide an opportunity for students in our Petroleum Academies to demonstrate their knowledge of the oil and gas industry and to showcase their public speaking skills. Development of public speaking skills is a critical component of the students’ Petroleum Academy experience.  Industry executives judge the student groups on presentation content, professionalism and speaking skills. Students prepare all fall semester for their campus competition.  The public speaking topics are all related to global concerns of the Petroleum Industry.  Students in the Freshmen/Sophomore students create a PowerPoint presentation; Juniors/Seniors present with a panel discussion.

The competition was fierce, with guest judges from the Petroleum Industry deciding the winners.

All judges are members of the Dallas – Fort Worth Chapter of AADE (American Association of Drilling Engineers) 

• Steve Boyd – President of Integrity Directional
• Jack Doak – Technical Sales at Weatherford International
• Ken Creighton – Creighton Drilling Services
• Dan Bilka – Principle Account Representative at Halliburton
• Rene St. Pierre – Vice President of Drilling at Atlas Resource Partners
• James Newman – Senior Vice President, Region Operations at Basic Energy Services 

Southwest High School was also honored to have Tonya Ehret, retired IPAA/PESA Petroleum Academy teacher, join us as a guest judge.

Special thanks to all of our judges and to Steve Boyd, member of AADE and Knowledge Box Champion, for coordinating the event with the judges.  Congratulations to all the participants and winners.

The results were:

• Renewable Energy Sources: Donovan Thomas, Caleb Etheridge, Keshaun Robertson and Anthony Adams
• Hydraulic Fracturing: Jaqueline Estrada, Isabella Diaz, Jatieya Davis and Waylin Fogarty
• Hydraulic Fracturing: Ivan Ceja, Kei’shon Hawkins, Jailen Guptin and Esau Luna
• Current controversies with the petroleum industry: Luis Tinoco, Ian Jimenez, Rachelle Harris, Aaron Hernandez and Hector Camacho
• Current Form of Alternate Energy Being Used Alongside Petroleum and Natural Gas: O’Brien Neely, Larry McPhail, Margaret Green Wallace, Jacob Dermott and Tylin Armstrong
• Clearing Up Misconceptions About the Petroleum Industry: Samuel Sanni, Ga’Juan Hickey, Octavio Martinez, Henry Persley and Michael Underwood
• Solving the Energy Problem: Leonardo Rivas, Gustavo Fallad, Miguel Morales and Noah Castro