By Bekah Denny
For the second year in a row, Speech and Debate took first place overall at their annual Green Valley League Tournament on Oct. 20 and 21. In their individual categories, Speech took three first places and Debate took seven.
“The drive to improve and the continued devotion and practice our team committed daily is what I think propelled the team to victory,” Brooks Sanderson, senior, said.
In Speech’s Foreign Extemporaneous category, Nathan Hall, senior, took second for varsity and Sonjay Shankar, freshman, took first for novice. In the Foreign Extemporaneous category of competition, the judges give a student three questions to choose from, and students have 30 minutes to prepare without the help of the Internet. Their speech must be seven minutes long, using statistics to support their claim.
Freshmen Seth Winterton and Grace Corcoran won first place for novice Duo Interpretation. This is where two students act out an either humorous or dramatic published work while not looking at or touching their partner. Abigail Spencer, sophomore, and Travis Smith, senior, placed fifth for varsity Duo Interpretation, and freshmen Abbygail Klein and Gavin Murray placed fourth for novice.
“To prepare I just made sure to get my cases done and made sure to have my script and all my movements memorized. I came up with rebuttals to anything the opposing team may have to say as well,” Klein said.
The Informative section of speech is the only event where students are allowed to use props and are encouraged to bring poster boards that are designed to correlate with their subject and use them throughout their 10-minute speech. These speeches can be about anything though they tend to be humorous and end with a good moral. Stephanie Werth, freshman, received second place and Juliana Li, freshman, fourth for novice Informative.
For Program Oral Interpretation, Spencer placed second and Kayla Vizcarra, senior, placed fourth for varsity. In Program Oral Interpretation, a student takes multiple published works and ties them all together to address one unifying theme.
“The Green Valley tournament was a huge victory for us because as a team we put in a lot of work, and it paid off. So far this season we are undefeated, so this win – just like the others – have pushed us to be better,” Sara Ross, sophomore, said.
In Humorous Interpretation, Katie Hamlin, junior, placed third for varsity and in Original Oratory Grace Corcoran, freshman, placed third for novice. Humorous Interpretation is eight to 10-minutes of acting out a humorous scene from any published work. Original Oratory is a 10-minute speech written by the student where in they bring in different perspectives and evidence to support their claim. It usually revolves around problems in society and moral issues.
Going into Debate, sophomores Rabih Char and Richard Lu tied for first place junior varsity with Harry Chu and Nick Fajardo in Policy Debate. Freshmen Emma Toledo and Julianna Li tied for first place novice with Nadya Chen and Marian Molion. Freshman Laine Ryerson and Sterling McPherson placed third for novice as well. Policy is where the students have the same topic all year, and they debate either the affirmative or negative side of that topic. During a tournament, they receive five to eight minutes prep and their debate can last 84 to 90 minutes.
In Congress, 12 to 30 students are placed in a room and act as a form of congress where they each debate whether to pass “legislation,” or resolutions. Each student presents a two-minute speech on whether they affirm or deny the resolution, there is one minute of cross examination, and then, when a statement is made, the congress moves on to the next subject on the docket, or plan. Ross placed first and Sophia Garritano, senior, placed third for varsity. Brett Barish, sophomore, placed second, Shelly Raiter, sophomore, placed third, and Spencer placed Top Chair and sixth for junior varsity. Freshmen Dylan Breach and Brooklyn Bassett both placed third for novice.
“I have to say, I’m super proud to be the president of a team that’s come together and seems to be the best in the state this year,” Barry Corcoran, senior, said.
For Public Forum, seniors Nathan Hall and Joel Colin McConnell placed first, Barry Corcoran and Robert Andrews, and Brooks Sanderson and Woodrow Orris, junior, were quarter finalists for varsity. Freshmen pairs Elena Wikinson and Arianna Calhoon and Eli Brown and Alissa Casal were quarter finalists for novice Public Forum. This form of Debate is when teams of two engage in a 45-minute debate against another team using statistics and facts, often relying on impact. Their topics change monthly.
Lincoln Douglas Debate is centered around morals and philosophy; this is the only debate where it is one student against another. Each student is assigned whether they are affirmative or negative, and the debate lasts for 45 minutes ending with the affirmative side. Sydney Szostek, junior, placed first for varsity Lincoln Douglas. Ryland Rumer, senior, was quarter finalist for junior varsity. Freshmen Sophia Oh, Amelia Knochel, and Sasha Bolla were quarter finalists for novice.
Speech and Debate’s next tournament is at Rancho High School on Dec 1 and 2.
