Carson High speech, debate team ranks high at fifth event

Carson High School hosted the fifth speech and debate tournament of the season during the weekend of Jan. 20. This competition included 15 schools, 186 competitors and 81 judges.

More than 40 teachers and staff members at Carson High shared their rooms, CHS NJROTC ran concessions and the culinary program provided materials to feed everyone at the two-day event.

Members of the CHS debate team advanced to final rounds in nine of 10 events.

Claire Dillon finished in fourth place in impromptu speaking, creating five-minute speeches on topics like blather, song lyrics and Calvin and Hobbes comics. Humorous interpretation saw Ellie Demet and Peter Woodberry in the final round. Demet finished sixth with her cutting of “Peabody and Sherman” while Woodberry crushed the competition with his piece titled “May the Best Man Win” taking five first-place ballots.

Summer McGill and Emily Tran finished fifth and second respectively in program oral interpretation, weaving together multiple forms of media to create a story. McGill focused on the challenges of Alzheimer's disease and Tran examined Asian-American stereotypes. Viviana Castro finished in first place with her original oratory titled “A Crisis in Camouflage,” calling action on America’s mental health crisis among veterans.

Alexis Ropp and Kyle Allen took third and first in foreign extemporaneous speaking, giving speeches on topics such as “How should the president of Brazil manage indigenous lands?”

The team also had its strongest showing in debate events this season. Partners Samantha Anderson and Demet finished third in BQ and Dillon finished undefeated debating whether science and supernatural are compatible. Lizzie Barker and Woodbury also finished undefeated in public forum debating whether the federal government should repeal section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The pair also took the top two speaker awards in the event. Lincoln Douglas saw John Fenton finished second overall in novice and Castro finished first examining the U.S. military presence in North Africa and West Asia. Castro also took the top speaker spot in Lincoln Douglas.

Policy partners Kaden Sa and Max Gold claimed second place while Vivi Mellow claimed the best speaker award debating whether the federal government should expand Medicare, provide a jobs guarantee or provide a universal basic income.

The team also competed in the annual American Legion Oratorical Competition. The competition includes two rounds, the first is a 10-minute speech on a citizen’s duty under the Constitution. The second round is a seven-minute speech on an amendment or article drawn at the competition. Thomas Lance placed second and Castro took first and will move on to the next round of the competition.