Once again, ACP’s Speech and Debate team exhibited skill and talent when it competed against 46 other schools in the Mountain View Toro Classic national bid tournament and finished in an astonishing 4th place. In this tournament, Skylar Hudson and Ananya Lakhotia placed first in Duet Acting at the national bid, while Delaney Krieber and Nik Pearce took 6th place in the same event. Additionally, Ali Shah took 5th place in Humorous Interpretation, and Natasha Zimmerman finished at 2nd place in Informative Speech. In the debate rounds, Connor Kantrud and Tej Patel ended at 2nd place in Novice Public Forum, Zoe Soderquist ended at 3rd place in Novice Lincoln Douglas, and Parsa Amini ended at 3rd place in Varsity Lincoln Douglas.

For the past three years, the members of Speech and Debate have constantly demonstrated their ability to triumph over other teams and work their way to the finals rounds. It is truly amazing to see their hard work pay off as they continuously place in each tournament they attend. I admire them for their tenacity, as being apart of this team takes an immense amount of dedication and drive.

When Speech and Debate was first formed, I joined the team, even though I wasn’t in the class, and vividly remember the amount of work and time it took for me to prepare my speeches for each competition. As such, I am incredibly proud to witness how much this team has grown in both size and talent.

After hearing about the victory at Mountain View Toro Classic, I decided to interview some of the Speech and Debate members who participated in the tournament in order to learn more about their experience in this competition.

I first interviewed Miranda Vega, a senior who is one of the original Speech and Debate members:

Q: What did you complete in at the Mountain View Toro Classic competition?

A: At Mountain View, I competed in the Informative Speech event and the Public Forum Debate.

Q: What were some of your favorite debates or speeches from other contestants?

A: I have only witnessed a few of the speeches this year for Informative Speech, but, from what I have seen, there were really good speeches on topics such as witch hunts, disco demolition, propaganda, and corn. I have also seen many Interpretation events that were phenomenal. There was a Duo Interpretation act where a woman with a Bipolar Disorder undergoes electroshock therapy. The people in the room were in tears after the act.

Q: How long did you prepare for your event?

A: Debate takes a lot of preparation, as well as Speech because you have to do in-depth research on your topic in order to understand it well. My debate partner, Carrie Hu, and I prepped every Monday and Wednesday after school until 7PM, and after that, we each did even more preparation. It’s hard work, but, in the end, it’s very rewarding.

Q: What was your debate/speech about?

A: Our Public Forum Debate topics were on price controls in the pharmaceutical industry. My informative speech was on the Beat Generation.

Q: What are some of your highlights from the competition?

A: The best thing about any tournament is seeing your teammates succeed, especially witnessing first time debaters and speakers advance to the finals rounds in their first tournament. Another highlight is playing games in between rounds.

After I interviewed Miranda, I talked to senior Nik Pearce, who has attained multiple awards in various Speech and Debate tournaments:

Q: What did you complete in at the Mountain View Toro Classic competition?

A: I competed in the Lincoln Douglas Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Duet Acting.

Q: What were some of your favorite debates or speeches from other contestants?

A: A great critique I faced in a debate round talked about the notion of democracy, which I thought was written well.

Q: How long did you prepare for your event?

A: I prepared for about 7 hours for all three of my events in the week before the tournament.

Q: What was your debate/speech about?

A: My debate was about the public’s right to know versus the public office candidates’ right to privacy. My speech was about international and domestic policy issues, and my Duet Acting piece was about two siblings fighting over a home security system.

Q: What are some of your highlights from the competition?

A: My number one highlight was seeing Skylar and Ananya place first in Duet Acting.

Congratulations to ACP’s Speech and Debate team for its victory at the Mountain View Toro Classic Tournament, and we wish you all luck in future competitions.