Over the weekend of April 12-13, Vestavia’s Speech and Debate Team competed in one of their last competitions of the year: Alabama State. Previously, the Speech and Debate Team had already won in the past 2 years against fierce competitors from all over Alabama including schools like the Loveless Academy Magnet Program High School (LAMP), Mountain Brook, Prattville, and Montgomery Academy. Students from Vestavia competed in events ranging from Dramatic Interpretation which involves interpreting a piece of literature through facial expressions and vocal inflections, to Lincoln-Douglas Debate, an event where two debaters argue for and against a resolution.
Many of these students have been honing their speeches and practicing debate strategies for the last school year whether that be presenting their speeches in front of the class or going through practice debates even outside of school. Their amazing results show the immense work they’ve put in over the years, as well as the help of their fellow peers and the Speech and Debate Sponsor, Mr. Conoly who has put in a lot of effort teaching and guiding these students.
Several of the top scorers are:
After-Dinner Speaking:
1st Place: Greta Christiansen
2nd Place: Tina Lou
4th Place: Reva Lingala
Big Questions:
Semifinalists: Holland Warren / Henry Jackson
Dramatic Interpretation:
1st Place: Ruogu Lei
5th Place: McKenzie Ormond
Duo Interpretation:
6th Place: Anna Kate Bailey and Ethan Schmidt
Humorous Interpretation:
3rd Place: Annie Hu
4th Place: Tina Gao
Impromptu:
2nd Place: Vivian Lin
3rd Place: Zhu Zhu Wang
Informative:
3rd Place: Tina Lou
International Extemporaneous:
1st Place: Zhu Zhu Wang
3rd Place: Tina Gao
JV Lincoln Douglas:
State Champion: Mina Hu
JV Public Forum:
Semifinalists: Anvitha Yaparla and Vivian Shi
Novice Lincoln Douglas:
Quarterfinalists: Krish Chintareddy
Semifinalists: Veronica Zhang / Adi Sheelavant
Runner Up: Eric Wang
Novice Public Forum:
Quarterfinalists: Sophia Li and Abigail Wang / Arhaan Lalani and Partul Danasekar
Semifinalists: Dev Patel and Yash Pillai
State Champions: Anna Kate Bailey and Ishaan Singh
Novice Senate:
6th Veronica Zhang
5th Mina Hu
3rd Yash Pillai
Poetry Interpretation:
4th Place: Mariam Malik
Prose Interpretation:
1st Place: Zhu Zhu Wang
Varsity Lincoln Douglas:
Semifinalist: Eddy Pang
Varsity Senate:
1st Place: Eddy Pang
2nd Place: Hope Johnson
5th Place: Greta Christiansen
6th Place: Tina Gao
Overall, Vestavia took not only 1st in the Overall Sweepstakes but also managed to place first in every category (Congress, Speech, and Debate). The next competition that the Speech and Debate Team plans to attend is NSDA Nationals which will be held in Iowa this year from June 16-21. Congratulations!
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