Students from Los Gatos and Saratoga High Schools’ Speech and Debate Teams have been quite convincing, making their points successfully against students from other public—and private—schools. These efforts have led to placements in top tournaments and invitations to national competitions.
At the California High School Speech Association State Championship, April 12-14, in Clovis, California:
– Alix Kerebel, semifinalist in Congressional Debate, LGHS senior
– Cameron Nguyen, 3rd in Original Prose and Poetry Speech, SHS senior
– Devika Nair, semifinalist in Original Advocacy, SHS freshman
At the State Qualification/League Finals Tournament, March 3-4:
– Timothy Leung and Kinnera Potluri, 2nd in Duo Interpretation Speech, SHS juniors
– Kinnera Potluri, 2nd place in Humorous Interpretation Speech, SHS junior
At Tournament of Champions, a national high school speech and debate contest at the University of Kentucky, April 20-22:
– Zachary Benitez, quarterfinalist in Original Oratory, LGHS senior
– Leonardo Jia and Ashish Goswami, semifinalist in Public Forum Gold, SHS juniors
– Alix Kerebel, semifinalist in Congressional Debate, LGHS senior
– Kinnera Potluri & Timothy Leung, 3rd, Finalist in DUO Interpretation, SHS juniors
– Timothy Leung, 4th, finalist, in Program Oral Interpretation, SHS junior
These students qualified by winning two bids after advancing to late elimination rounds at highly competitive tournaments (incl. Stanford, Martin Luther King Jr. and Berkeley):
– Ovee Dharwadkar, Dramatic Interpretation and Original Oratory Speech, SHS freshman
– Preksha Jain, Original Oratory Speech, SHS freshman
– Skyler Mao (junior) and Anthony Luo (sophomore), Public Forum Gold Debate, S HS
– Anagha Vitaldevara, Dramatic Interpretation, SHS sophomore
The National Individual Events Tournament of Champions (NIETOC) is an annual national tournament that will host some of the best competitors from around the country this May in Nebraska. Featuring competitions in humor, drama, and informative, to name a few, students qualify after attaining two bids after advancing to late elimination rounds at local and state-level tournaments. Join us in congratulating the qualifiers:
– Timothy Leung in Duo Interpretation and Program Oral Interpretation and Speech, Saratoga HS Junior
– Cameron Nguyen, Humorous Interpretation Speech, Saratoga HS Senior
– Kinnera Potluri in Duo Interpretation and Humorous Interpretation Speech, Saratoga HS Junior
– Anagha Vitaldevara, Dramatic Interpretation, Saratoga HS Sophomore
The 2024 National Speech & Debate Tournament (NSDA) will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, June 16-21.
Los Gatos High School will send senior Zachary Benitez for Original Oratory and senior Alix Kerebel for Congressional Debate. Saratoga High School will send junior Timothy Leung, who auto-qualified as a semifinalist in Program Oral Interpretation at the 2023 NSDA Tournament, sophomore Anagha Vitaldevara, who placed 3rd in Dramatic Interpretation at the California Coast District Tournament, junior Leonardo Jia and junior Ashish Goswami, who qualified in Public Forum through the Last Chance Qualifier, and senior Cameron Nguyen, who was selected as an at-large coach entry for Prose Reading.
Both the Los Gatos and Saratoga High School Speech and Debate Teams are an after-school, extra-curricular activity designed to build communication skills. Practices are held during the week where students develop their public speaking, debating, and acting skills.
