Carson High School’s debate team members performed Oct. 21 and 22 at the second season tournament at Spanish Springs High School, which hosted 15 schools and 183 competitors. CHS members qualified for elimination rounds.
Carson High School’s debate team competed in the second season tournament at Spanish Springs Oct. 20 and 21. The tournament included 15 schools and 183 competitors. The Carson Squad advanced members into the final round in every speech event Friday and half of the debate events Saturday. Here is a breakdown of Carson finalists:
Novice Storytelling
- 6th, Noelani Ochoa performing selections from “Hamilton” by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Novice Informative
- 6th, Pebble Wiggins, topic: “The Guillotine”
Senior Informative
- 6th, McKenzie Merrell, topic: “Oppenheimer and Nuclear Weapons”
- 5th, Nasia Perkins, topic: “Morbid Curiosity”
Senior Extemporaneous
- 6th, Kyle Allen
- 2nd, Viviana Castro
Novice Dramatic Interpretation
- 6th, Claire Dillon performing “With the Fire on High” by Elizabeth Acevedo
Senior Dramatic Interpretation
- 4th, Summer McGill performing scenes from “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson
- 1st, Emily Tran performing “Room” by Emma Donoghue
Senior Duo Interpretation
- 1st, Chelsea Empeno & Kaden Sa performing “The Second Bakery Attack” by Haruki
Murakami
Novice Public Forum
- Thomas Lance, 7th place speaker points
Novice Lincoln Douglas Debate
- Emily Tran, 5th place speaker points
- Alexis Ropp, 2nd place speaker points, 2nd overall
Senior Lincoln Douglas Debate
Viviana Castro, 1st place speaker points, 3rd overall
The team will be in action at the Boonanza and the next tournament is Nov. 17 and 18 at Reed High School. Members of the team will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the Golden Desert Tournament of Champions Qualifier in November, and the team is preparing for the American Legion Oratorical Contest as well as the Poetry Out Loud Competition.
Patrick Mobley is a social studies teacher and speech coach for Carson High School.