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Speech and debate team is on winning streak
(by Sue Hoffman - December 22, 2010)
Speech and debate team is on winning streak
By SUE HOFFMAN
Solon High School's championship at the recent speech and debate tournament at Chagrin Falls High School continues the team's winning streak this fall.
The Solon team has placed first overall in all of the Cleveland district tournaments, which included Edison High School in Milan, Lincoln-West High School in Cleveland, and Mentor and Chagrin Falls high schools. The team also took the championship in an out-of-district tournament at Princeton High School in Cincinnati.
At the Chagrin Falls tournament, Solon not only captured first-place overall among 28 schools, but also came in first in duo interpretation, oratorical interpretation and original oratory. The team placed second in two-person policy debate, impromptu speaking, international extemporaneous speaking and U.S. extemporaneous speaking. In total, the team had 15 top-six finishes in a dozen events.
"The team is having one of its most successful seasons thus far," junior Vibhu Krishna, the team's public relations officer, said.
"In previous years, we dreamed of placing at a higher level at out-of-district tournaments," she said. "This year that dream has materialized." Besides the Princeton victory, the team had sixth-place finishes at both the Youngstown Boardman and Warren Howland tournaments.
Last year, the team consistently placed first at the district level and finished second overall in the district's state-qualifying tournament, Vibhu said.
"Our goal for this year is to send as many team members as possible to the state tournament in Toledo and the national tournament in Dallas," she said. "We hope to win the district's state-qualifying tournament on Feb. 5 and 6, while also forging irreplaceable bonds between team members."
Solon's team, under the direction of head coach Jennifer Moore and assistant coach Daniel Ceci, has several practices each week. Each team member is allotted a 20-minute practice slot once a week. The coaches provide several hours three evenings a week to give time to each of the team's 55 members.
Team leaders discussed what attracted them to join the team, which offers a wide variety of formats for speech and debate.
"What sparked my interest in speech and debate has been an unwavering desire to improve my oratorical abilities, public speaking skills and expressiveness of speech," said Trent Navran, a senior who serves as team co-president with senior Andrew Kovtun.
"From extemporaneous speaking events in my freshman year that strengthened on-the-spot impromptu speaking, to dramatic interpretations in my junior year that enriched my use of pathos, speech and debate has been responsible for making me a thoughtful, confident speaker," he said.
"This year, I chose to participate in duo interpretation, an event that consists of a performance of a literary, theatrical or poetic piece by two performers," he said. "This event allows for the collaborative infusion of creativity, entertainment and poignant moments that usually causes these performances to be most enjoyable by an audience."
Trent said he likes the challenge of having to bring to life a 10-minute cut of a play called "Jerry Finnegan's Sister" through well-timed choreography, numerous voices and convincing character development.
Vibhu, who competes in dramatic interpretation and qualified for the state tournament the last two years, said speech and debate "truly encourages students to shed any inhibitions they may have possessed regarding public speaking.
"At a speech tournament, when you're forced to walk into a room full of strangers and pretend to play another character for 10 minutes, a classroom presentation for school seems like nothing in comparison," she said. "It is a wonderful challenge to interpret and embody a totally different persona based on a monologue or book."
Practice helps in speech development, she said. "By attending weekly tournaments, high-pressure, competitive environments become commonplace, allowing participants to overcome their nerves while greatly improving their speaking skills."
The Solon team will host its tournament Jan. 29. "We hope for healthy competition and have invited some of the out-of-district teams to get a feel for the surrounding competition," Vibhu said.
Major competitions take place in February, including the state qualifying tournament through the Ohio High School Speech League and national qualifying tournaments through the National Forensics League.
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