Congratulations to the Apple Valley Debate Team on an impressive start to the 2009-2010 season!
First, the Eagles competed at the Valley Mid-America Cup held in West Des Moines, Iowa in late September. In this varsity-level national tournament, junior Sean Cheren made it to the double-octafinal (top 32), besting a field of over 100 students.
Then, the Eagles competed at their first in-state debate tournament at Lakeville South High School on October 3rd. Impressive finishes were made by juniors Sean Cheren and Jon Slater, as both placed in the top six of the tournament.
At Bloomington Jefferson on October 10th, the Eagles had one of their most outstanding finishes yet. Junior Jon Slater was named champion in varsity LD, sophomore John Granlund was named champion in JV LD, and freshmen Miriam Kelberg, Georgia Schmitt, and Miranda Lawell all received awards for top-five finishes. In addition, junior Rhett Gopaul and senior Cameron Michelsen were named runners-up in the varsity division of Public Forum debate.
On October 16-17th, the team competed at their first two-day tournament of the season at the University of Minnesota. Once again reaching elimination rounds, junior Jon Slater reached semifinals, placing in the top four in a very large varsity division. In novice, freshmen Max Courtright, Miriam Kelberg, and Nader Helmy all received speaking awards in the top seven for their performances.
Most recently at Hopkins High School on October 23rd – 24th, Apple Valley was named the team champions in LD debate! This impressive award was given based on results from the top three varsity and top three novice LD debaters. In novice, two debaters reach elimination rounds; sophomore John Granlund reached the quarterfinal round (top and junior Jon Slater reached the semifinal round (top 4). In novice LD debate, Apple Valley had six out of the eight quarterfinalists in the tournament; freshmen Rand Silvers, Max Courtright, Miranda Lawell, and Mallory Lammers were all named quarterfinalsts, while freshmen Miriam Kelberg and Georgia Schmitt were named semifinalists. Congratulations to the entire team on being named team champions of the Hopkins Royal Cup!
Below is the Henry Sibley Information Sheet. This tournament features both public forum AND Lincoln-Douglas debate. Note: this is a SATURDAY ONLY tournament.
Welcome to the 2009-2010 Speech and Debate Team Season! This website will be frequently updated to provide you with information, important forms, results, and (hopefully) pictures as the season progresses!
Below is a link to the Contact Information Form that was handed out in the Wednesday meeting on September 30th. Remember, this needs to be handed in by Friday, October 2nd. You can either drop this off on Mr. Prax’s desk near room 131, or you can fill it out electronically and email it to zachary.prax@district196.org.
Congratulations are in order for Coaches Joe and Pam Wycoff and all the members of the AVHS Speech and Debate teams. Consistently, at either the NFL or NCFL Nationals, AVHS has competed successfully against the top teams in the nation, placing in the Top 5 in the USA for the past 15 years. This year’s group competed at the National Forensic League National Championships June 13th-20th in Birmingham, Alabama. Nine hundred and forty schools from across the nation participated including public, private, parochial and charter schools.
Approximately 225 competitors per event vied for titles over the course of several grueling competitive rounds. In the end, AVHS senior John Hofmeister was crowned the National Champion in the category of Original Oratory. (John also won the National Catholic Forensic League Tournament in May.) He was also designated as the TOP Speaker out of ALL SIX individual events, not just his primary event of Oratory. Overall, John won $6,750 in scholarship money for his performance!
In addition, Szuyin Leow was named National Runner-Up in Expository Speaking and won a $500 scholarship; Tatiana Burton placed 10th in Original Oratory; Michelle Keohane placed 11th in Lincoln-Douglas Debate; and Coach Pam Wycoff was named the 2009 National Speech/Debate Coach of the Year. The accomplishments of team members and coaches –the product of hours and hours of work- continually set a standard of co-curricular excellence that is recognized nationwide.
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.”
“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
Actress Maria Thayer (ACCEPTED, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHAL) was honored at a Nationals Award banquet recognizing her success both during and beyond her NFL career. Maria is pictured below alongside Cherian Koshy and her former coach, Pam Wycoff (then Pam Cady).
Congratulations to seniors John Hofmeister, Tatiana Burton, and Lindsay Swiggum who this past weekend placed in the top 6 speakers in the nation at the National Catholic Forensic League Speech and Debate Tournament. The tournament was held in Albany, New York, and involved over 2500 speakers from 529 schools. Hofmeister was named the National Champion in Original Oratory; Burton finished 3rd in Oratory; and Swiggum took 5th in Oratory.
AVHS was the only school in the nation to have 3 Finalists in one event. Out of 225 competitors in each event, other Apple Valley students finished as follows: Ashley Tanberg–top 12 (Prose/Poetry), Bryan Porter–top 24 (Prose/Poetry), and Szuyin Leow–top 24 (Original Oratory).
Once again, Apple Valley was named a “School of Excellence” in Speech, placing it among the top 5 schools in the United States.
Congratulations to AVHS Senior Chris Theis for winning the National Lincoln Douglas Debate Championship at the National Tournament of Champions held in Lexington, KY this past weekend.
Chris made history with his victory by becoming THE ONLY DEBATER TO EVER WIN the Championship TWICE in the 23 year history of the TOC. Last year when Chris won the Championship he became the SECOND JUNIOR to ever win the tournament (and the first junior to win it since 1992).
Seventy-six debaters qualified to attend the Tournament of Champions based on their high-ranking elimination round performances at various national qualifying tournaments held throughout the year. Among those seventy-six debaters was Apple Valley’s Michelle Keohane who also gave the Top Speaker, Jake Nebel, his only defeat during the seven preliminary rounds. Michelle finished with a 4-3 record.
Apple Valley Debaters have now been in the final round of the TOC five times. In addition to Chris those former AVHS Debaters include David Singh, (2nd) 1996; Kelsey Olson,(2nd) 2002; and Tim Hogan, (2nd) 2004.
Apple Valley capped its State Season with a remarkable performance at this years Class AA State Speech Tournament held at Gustavus Aldophus. Winning 5 of the 13 events, AVHS posted an impressive finish, beating out other nationally acclaimed schools (Lakeville No had 3, Eagan had 2 and Eastview had 1). The state champions include John Hofmeister in Drama (who was defending his title from last year), Tatiana Burton in Poetry, Sarah Brickner in Great Speeches, Kate Brown in Extemporaneous Reading, and Lindsay Swiggum in Oratory. All of Apple Valley’s champions were seniors. Emily Peterson (Storytelling) and Ashley Tanberg (Prose) took seconds. Other finalists include Szuyin Leow, Abbie Gotter, Chris Theis, Mia Owen, and Michelle Keohane. Sophomore Khadija Said competed at state in Discussion but did not advance to finals.
Apple Valley completed its second week of the invitational season with another strong performance at Lakeville South H.S, taking third overall. The weekend was marked by strong performances from Sarah Brickner with a 1st place finish in Great Speeches, and Rachel Gulden with a first place finish in Informative. Apple Valley also had four students take runner-up, Emily Peterson (Storytelling), Szuyin Leow (Oratory), Ashley Tanberg (Prose), and Julia Tindell (Great Speeches). Once again, AVHS had four students in the final round of Informative, with Kirby Hermansen in third, novice Szuymei Leow placing fourth, and Abby Schoebeck in 7th.
Lakeville South also offered a novice division, in which AVHS won three categories, Sean Cheren (Extemporaneous Speaking), Maire Clement (Prose), and Jason Madore (Extemporaneous Reading). Overall, AVHS sent 23 students to novice final rounds.
Next week, the team will be hosting its own tournament.
The Apple Valley Speech Team kicked off its regular season the weekend of January 30th with a third place finish at the Schwan’s Speech Spectacular in Marshall, MN. They took 75 students to this strong regional tournament and performed well as a team, placing behind Eastview and Eagan. The tournament included over 700 students from 30 schools representing four states. This two day tournament included 5 grueling preliminary rounds followed by 3 elimination rounds.
The weekend was marked by some outstanding individual performances, most notably Tatiana Burton who won the event of Original Oratory and placed second in Poetry. Emily Peterson was named champion of Storytelling. And in Informative, Mia Owen won the tournament by receiving a number one ranking from 13 judges in a row. AVHS advanced four students to the Informative finals. Julia Tindell of Great Speeches and Lindsay Swiggum of Original Oratory were second place finishers.
Other finalists included Taylor Anne Barriouso, Alex Robinson, Michelle Keohane, Kirby Hermanson, Rachel Gulden, and Szuyin Leow. First time competitors Paige Coulter, Maire Clement, and Szumei Leow stood out, as well, with their semi-finalist placings.
Next week, AVHS will be at Lakeville South High School for their invitational.
Though the temperatures dipped dramatically this weekend, the AVHS Forensics team was hot. . . both in-state and in Atlanta. The traveling team made its way to Emory University with four students, all of whom had excellent showings. Tatiana Burton was named the champion in Oratory, while Szuyin Leow took 2nd. John Hofmeister took 2nd in Dramatic Performance and 6th in Oratory. Bryan Porter was a semi-finalist in the event of Dramatic Performance.
Closer to home, Michelle Keohane was crowned the state champion in Lincoln Douglas Debate.
and junior Jon Slater reached the semifinal round (top 4). In novice LD debate, Apple Valley had six out of the eight quarterfinalists in the tournament; freshmen Rand Silvers, Max Courtright, Miranda Lawell, and Mallory Lammers were all named quarterfinalsts, while freshmen Miriam Kelberg and Georgia Schmitt were named semifinalists. Congratulations to the entire team on being named team champions of the Hopkins Royal Cup!
