Congratulations to the Apple Valley Debate Team on a great showing at the Apple Valley “Minneapple” Debate Tournament! In it’s 23rd year, the Minneapple was the largest ever, with over 360 students competing from 62 different schools and 17 different states. Although varsity members are not allowed to compete at their home tournament due to national rules, the JV and novice members of the team represented Apple Valley well. In junior-varsity LD, sophomores Jordan Parmett and Sean Cheren were quarterfinalists, making them within the top eight of 82 students. And, in novice LD, freshman Michael Hanson was named an octafinalist (top sixteen) in a field of a 89 students. Congratulations to the Debate Team on a job well done and the entire speech and debate team on a tournament well run!

High school forensics, which includes speech and debate, has become one of the most exciting and challenging activities for students to participate in. We here at Apple Valley High School feel quite passionately about why it can benefit everyone. We have a great deal of literature that will help you to decide if Apple Valley Speech and Debate is the right activity for you.

Here are a few more resources / testimonials that might help you make that decision. These are provided by the National Forensic League (NFL) which is the national organization that promotes speech and debate around the country.

Jonathan Carr This is probably the most compelling testimonial for debate you will ever read. Jonathan is actually a student who used to debate a former Apple Valley student, David Singh. As an interesting side-note, both David and Jonathan now work together in a New York law firm.

Minh Luong (One of the most highly respected names in high school debate, Minh Luong is an Assistant Professor of Ethics at Yale.) This is an article that he wrote on the benefits of speech and debate.

Michael Urie (Professional Actor) Michael was a National Champion in Speech in the category of Dramatic Interpretation. You can see Michael on the show “Ugly Betty.”

Carol Houlihan Brown (Debater) It’s Not About the Trophies

Jason Raphael Williams (Actor) Writes about the benefits of speech.

Nicole Lowrance (Actress) Writes about the benefits of speech.

The Value of Speech, Debate, and Theatre Activities by Dr. Kevin Minch

“Those 4 years in debate were the educational foundation of everything I did. And I don’t mean that in some simple form…I’m saying the finest education I got from any of the institutions I attended, the foundation of my mind that I got during those 4 years of competitive policy debate; that is, 90% of the intellectual capacity that I operate with today–Fordham [University] for college, Fordham for the Ph.D., Harvard for law school–all of that is the other 10%.” — John Sexton, President of NYU

A select group of Apple Valley Speech and Debate students competed at the prestigious St. Marks Speech and Debate Invitational, held in Dallas, Texas, October 16th through the 19th. In Speech competition, more than 40 high schools representing 17 states were involved. Final results in Speech for Apple Valley were outstanding. Senior John Hofmeister was named the tournament champion in Dramatic Interpretation; in addition, Tatiana Burton was the 1st place winner in Original Oratory. Finally, the other Speech Finalist (placing in the top 6), sophomore Bryan Porter, finished 3rd in Humorous Interpretation. Senior Lindsay Swiggum made it to the Semi-Finals in Oratory before being eliminated.

In Debate, senior Chris Theis, recognized as one of the top Lincoln-Douglas Debaters in the country, won the tournament. Besting more than 100 other contestants, Chris was also named the Top Speaker in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Senior Kevin Granlund also competed and compiled a 4-2 record in LD, just missing advancing to the Elimination Rounds.

Congratulations to the Apple Valley Debate Team for a successful showing at the University of Minnesota Tournament held October 10-11, 2008. Apple Valley had several top finishes. In Varsity LD, senior Chris Theis was a semifinalist and sophomore Jon Slater was a quarterfinalist. In the novice LD division, freshman Michaelle Peña was named Champion by having a perfect 4-0 record and high speaker points, and freshman Crystal Ramsumair also went 4-0 and finished fifth. Finally, in varsity public forum debate, junior Mia Owen was the top speaker and junior Abbie Gotter was third. Congratulations for an impressive showing!

DEBATE RESULTS: GREENHILL

Congratulations to senior AVHS debater Chris Theis for defending his championship of the prestigious Greenhill Round Robin on September 11-12. The Greenhill Round Robin invites only 12 highly ranked debaters from across the country to compete for its prestigious title. With his second victory, Chris became the FIRST person in the HISTORY of the round robin to win the championship title twice. Chris won the final round on a vote of 3 to 0.

In addition, congratulations to both Chris Theis and senior Michelle Keohane for a successful showing at the Greenhill Invitational Debate Tournament on September 13-14. In a field that attracted over 150 debaters from across the country, Chris was named a semifinalist (top four) and Michelle was named a double-octafinalist (top 32). Chris earned a bid to the Tournament of Champions in Lexington, Kentucky where he won the Championship as a junior. Chris was the second junior to ever win the TOC! Congrats to both Chris and Michelle to a great start to the debate season!

DEBATE RESULTS: BLOOMINGTON JEFFERSON INVITATIONAL

Congratulations to the Apple Valley Debate Team to a great start to the Minnesota in-state invitational debate season! On October 4, Apple Valley won two of the three events offered in Lincoln-Douglas debate, narrowly getting second place in the last division. In varsity Lincoln-Douglas debate, senior Michelle Keohane was named the Champion. In Junior Varsity, sophomores Jon Slater and Sean Cheren were named Champion and runner-up, respectively. And in novice, freshman Crystal Ramsumair was runner-up, nearly topping a field of over 80 debaters. In addition, speaker awards were won by senior Kevin Granlund and sophomore Jordan Parmett.

Thank you for your interest in joining the Apple Valley Debate Team. We are excited to see all those interested in trying out at the informational meeting on Friday, September 5th at 2:30 in room 108.

For your convenience, here is a link to the novice tryout packet. Please pay close attention to the details and read everything carefully to make your tryout the strongest it can be.

Novice Tryout Packet

We hope to see you at tryouts!!!

High school forensics, which includes speech and debate, has become one of the most exciting and challenging activities for students to participate in. We here at Apple Valley High School feel quite passionately about why it can benefit everyone. We have a great deal of literature that will help you to decide if Apple Valley Speech and Debate is the right activity for you.

Here are a few more resources / testimonials that might help you make that decision. These are provided by the National Forensic League (NFL) which is the national organization that promotes speech and debate around the country.

Jonathan Carr This is probably the most compelling testimonial for debate you will ever read. Jonathan is actually a student who used to debate a former Apple Valley student, David Singh. As an interesting side-note, both David and Jonathan now work together in a New York law firm.

Minh Luong (One of the most highly respected names in high school debate, Minh Luong is an Assistant Professor of Ethics at Yale.) This is an article that he wrote on the benefits of speech and debate.

Michael Urie (Professional Actor) Michael was a National Champion in Speech in the category of Dramatic Interpretation. You can see Michael on the show “Ugly Betty.”

Carol Houlihan Brown (Debater) It’s Not About the Trophies

Jason Raphael Williams (Actor) Writes about the benefits of speech.

Nicole Lowrance (Actress) Writes about the benefits of speech.

The Value of Speech, Debate, and Theatre Activities by Dr. Kevin Minch

“Those 4 years in debate were the educational foundation of everything I did. And I don’t mean that in some simple form…I’m saying the finest education I got from any of the institutions I attended, the foundation of my mind that I got during those 4 years of competitive policy debate; that is, 90% of the intellectual capacity that I operate with today–Fordham [University] for college, Fordham for the Ph.D., Harvard for law school–all of that is the other 10%.” — John Sexton, President of NYU