February 2024
Hello and Happy Black History Month!
This whole year has been speeding by, so my apologies for sending this a week (or so…) into the month!
I want to thank all the parents who have taken the time to drive and judge for us this past month!! Shoutout to Nissa Lind, Daniel Loyd, Todd Fine, Kristin Gossett, Tim Padden, and Marian Millard for judging in Austin and Atlanta this semester!! Judging fees are one of the most costly expenses for a debate team of this size and every time a parent volunteers, we save hundreds!
February successes and TFA state qualifiers!
We competed at the Westlake tournament, Roosevelt Teddy Tussle, and the Seven Lakes virtual/in-person tournament this month before we headed to Boston.
Westlake:
Colin McGowan placed 5th in Congress and earned his state qualification!
Charlotte Gossett, Lucie Flynn, Zoe Taylor, and Schaefer Russell were Domestic Extemp semifinalists!
Salomé Casey, semifinalist in International Extemp!
Michael Issa was a Novice LD semifinalist!
Sanayah Panicker, 1st place in Original Oratory!!!
Sam Martin and Nick Sharma, 2nd place in Public Forum!! They also earned their state qualification!!
The World Schools Debate team “Lit Crazy Crew”, the team of Talia Adelman, Lucy Laves, Henry Dieringer, Eléna Lucas, and Atticus Sencenbaugh, won first place!!!
Roosevelt High School Teddy Tussle:
Sanayah Panicker placed 5th and earned her state qualification for Original Oratory!
Seven Lakes Virtual/In-Person:
The team of Rosemary Spindler and Parker Benko advanced to quarterfinals on both sides of the swing and earned their state qualification in Public Forum!
Our trip to Harvard!
Thanks to an anonymous donation, we were able to attend the Harvard tournament this past weekend! Thank you to Anje Watkins, Hugh McGowan, and Kristin Gossett for traveling, chaperoning, and judging in Boston!
Junior Nate Watkins advanced to quarterfinals (top 8!) in varsity LD and earned the 3rd overall top speaker. He also earned his fourth bid to the Tournament of Champions!!
Junior Luke Schooler advanced to outrounds and was ranked in the top 64 debaters at the tournament! He also was ranked as the 13th top speaker for the tournament.
The duo team of juniors Lucky Cantu and Lily Steinhauser advanced to octofinals!
Junior Gabi Avramova advanced to quarterfinals of congress!
A photo of our 2024 TFA State tournament attendees!
Top row: Colin, Emmy, Kendall, Logan, Luke, Nate, Henry
Bottom row: Gabi, Ananya, Kaavya, Lucky, Sam, Nick, Lily, Sanayah
Not pictured: Rosemary, Parker
Texas Forensic Association (TFA) State Tournament Attendees:
Emmy Ward
Gabi Avramova
Logan Marcum
Sanayah Panicker
Kaavya Yalamanchili
Ananya Arora
Rosemary Spindler
Parker Benko
Lily Steinhauser
Lucky Cantu
Sam Martin
Kendall Meachum
Nick Sharma
Nate Watkins
Luke Schooler
Colin McGowan
Henry Dieringer
These students earned 10 points over the course of this school year, advancing to finals in their chosen speech and debate event at local tournaments in Austin. Wish us luck as we travel to Houston in March!
We could use another judge and may need some help transporting students to and from Houston. If you are able to judge on Thursday 3/7-Saturday 3/9, or to drive students to Houston on Wednesday, March 6 and/or back to Austin on Sunday, March 10, please let me know!
Remaining Spring Semester Events
Tonight: Team Bonding at Playland Skate! 7-9pm.
March 6-10: TFA State
March 15-16: UIL CX State
March 22-23: NSDA National Tournament District Qualifier
April 10: UIL LD and Speech District
April 19-23: Tournament of Champions
May 4: Showcase!
June 16-22: NSDA National Tournament
Fundraising Update and Trivia Night!
Our GiveButter crowdfunding site (https://givebutter.com/AHSSpeechandDebate) has raised over $12,000! This is huge for our team and we want to keep this momentum going! Please continue to share our team link or your student’s link on social media, with friends and family, and communities!
We will also be hosting a Trivia Night on Leap Day! I will be operating as the Trivia Tsar and I am *so* excited to host this! You may not know this but I play trivia with a group of Austin-area coaches and not to brag, but we're pretty good. I'm pumped to be on the other side of trivia! Join us for trivia and a profit share with Que Divino!
RSVP for trivia night here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4EA4A628A1F94-47982523-leap#/
That's all from me for now! I'll check back in before we head to TFA state. I hope you're enjoying this 80 degree weather!
Peace, Love, and Debate,
Coach El Contreras