Results_2009-10

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03/15/2010
The Forensics Team for Speech and Debate celebrated their competitive season last night at the League Banquet in Peddler's Village, where four Vikings earned League recognition. Kaitlyn Hill was awarded second place in the league for Dramatic Performance, James Lee earned a trophy as league quarterfinalist in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Alex Tassoni was awarded fourth place in the Student Congress event. Special recognition was given to Sarah Russakoff for service to the league as the Preparation Room manager. This season saw the greatest growth in membership in UM Forensics history, and next season will return many Vikings with new competitive experience and lots of talent. The team also wishes the best to its seniors as they approach graduation: Alyssa Goodman, Dani Strassburg, and Richard Ta served as team officers; Christine Ho and Chitra Mosarla explored national and world issues in Extemporaneous Speaking; Trevor Younger earned valuable experience in Public Forum Debate; and Max Hain and Sam Rapine made a formidable Public Forum Debate team. They will all be missed next season.

The team will get together again in May for a Middle School workshop and officer elections for next year. Anyone who missed out on the 2009-2010 season, but has an interest in public speaking, dramatic reading, current issues, or argumentation, should contact Mr. Cox or Ms. Dell'Elmo.

02/03/2010
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Debate League held their semifinal contest yesterday at Lower Moreland High School, and Upper Merion fielded competitors in five different events. In Public Forum Debate, UM failed to advance a team out of the "round of 32". Max Hain and Sam Rapine lost a heart-breaking round by one point against a team from Truman HS, while Emily Diemer and Sarah Stecz lost to Perkiomen Valley. In Lincoln Douglas Debate, Max Lindsay, Shane Cardiero, and James Lee all advanced from the "round of 32" to the octofinals bracket, but only James Lee won that round. James will now travel to New Hope in two weeks in his quest for a League championship. In our speech events, Christine Ho, Alex Tassoni, Jackie Nikpour, Johanna Reck, and Eden Strassburg competed in three rounds, but failed to advance to the League finals, though Johanna and Eden each earned first place rankings along the way. Kaitlyn Hill was ranked first or second all afternoon in her event, and will advance to the League Championship with James. Several other members of the team will also compete at New Hope in the Student Congress event. Congratulations to the team on a great show of Viking Pride, and wish James and Kaitlyn well in their quest for a trophy!

01/23/2010
The Forensics Team for Speech and Debate sent 8 of its members to Cheltenham's PCFL contest on Saturday, and 6 of them returned with Certificates of Excellence or Superiority. Max Lindsay, Shane Cardiero, and Sohan Pillarisetti all notched 2-1 records in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, questioning the role of economic sanctions as a tool of foreign policy. Max's point total was high enough to earn one of only two Certificates of Superiority in his event, while Shane and Sohan earned Certificates of Excellence. In Extemporaneous Speaking, seniors Dani Strassburg, Alyssa Goodman, and Christine Ho all earned certificates of excellence. Topics of the day ranged from Obama's campaign promises and the health of the US auto industry, to international aid to Haiti and China's role in the worlds economy. Team members also continue to earn recognition from the National Forensics League. Dani Strassburg has joined Alyssa Goodman as UM's only active students with a Degree of Excellence. Max Lindsay, Alex Tassoni, and Christine Ho have earned enough points for their Degree of Honor, and Degrees of Merit have been earned this month by Julio Trejo, Trevor Younger, Shane Cardiero, and Sarah Howell. The team still has one week to go until their toughest challenge yet this year, at League Semifinals.

01/13/2010
Yesterday at Council Rock North, the Upper Merion Forensics Team for Speech and Debate set themselves up for an exciting League Tournament. The debate team of Sarah Stecz and Emily Diemer, who started the day on the bubble of reaching the tournament bracket, went undefeated, including a solid win over the current top-ranked team from Lower Moreland. The team of Sarah Howell and Dyana Baurley also won two of three in their bid for the bracket. A win by Julio Trejo and Trevor Younger earned them their Degree of Merit in the National Forensics League. James Lee went undefeated for the second week in a row, while Max Lindsay and Shane Cardeiro earned their spots in the league's semifinals. Dani Strassburg earned a first place ranking for her speech on whether Google should leave China, while Christine Ho, Chitra Mosarla, and Eden Strassburg all joined Dani in qualifying for the League Tournament. In Oral Interpretation of Literature, Johanna Reck, Jackie Nikpour, and Alex Tassoni all placed first in at least one of their rounds, and will also move on to the League Tournament. A new event for the season, Student Congress, was featured at the competition and Alli Clark, AlishaMoloobhai, and Jeremy Gurbatow all participated, getting a taste of the event. A special thanks to our student judges Richard Ta, Sarah Russakoff, and seniors Max Hain, and Sam Rapine, who will also compete in the league semifinals.. Our next scheduled meeting is Wednesday, January 20th. Hope to see you then.

01/06/2010
The Upper Merion Area Forensics Team for Speech and Debate returned from Wissahickon yesterday with some personal bests from many members of the team. James Lee was undefeated in his debate event, considering whether economic sanctions have a place in American foreign policy. Chitra Mosarla had a first place ranking in her speech discussing whether America has done enough to keep our airports safe. The two teams of Emily Diemer and Sarah Stecz, and Dyana Baurley and Sarah Howell, had winning records in their debates dealing with President Obama's military plans in Afghanistan. Both Jojo Reck and Alex Tassoni paved the way through Oral Interpretation, gaining first place ranks. Sarah Russakoff, Richard Ta, Christine Ho and team captain Dani Strassburg served the league as student judges. Earning their Degree of Merit in the National Forensics League yesterday were: Alli Clark, Alisha Moloobhai, Emily Diemer, Max Hain, Joy Howard, James Lee, Chitra Mosarla, and Jojo Reck.

Next week takes the team to Council Rock in their last warm-up before league semifinals in February.

12/16/2009
The Upper Merion Forensics Team for Speech and Debate returned from Cheltenham yesterday after competing in two different speech events and two different debate formats. Newcomers Alex Clark and Malik Elarbi dominated the competition, with a 3-0 record in their debut contest, debating merit pay for teachers. Veteran Max Lindsay also earned a solid 3-0 record debating whether vaccinations should be mandatory. First-timers Shane Cardiero, James Lee, Brett Jentleson, and Jenna Garo also came home with on victory on the day. Chitra Mosarla gave a second=place speech on tensions with Iran, while Johanna Reck and Jackie Nikpour each earned second-place with different readings from Politically-Correct Fairy Tales. In addition, Dyana Baurley, Jackie Nikpour, and Eden Strassburg all earned their Degree of Merit in the National Forensics League yesterday.

The team is well positioned to have its strongest showing at league finals in many years. Congratulations to the whole team for its hard work!

12/02/2009
The Upper Merion Forensics Team for Speech and Debate returned from Council Rock on Wednesday with first place rankings from Kaitlyn Hill in Dramatic Performance and Jackie Nikpour in Oral Interpretation of Prose. In addition, Sam Rapine, Melanie Guerrier, and Sarah Stecz earned enough points to become Members of Merit in the National Forensics League. Our next contest will take us to Cheltenham on December 16.

11/18/2009
The Upper Merion Area Forensics Team for Speech and Debate hosted its league tournament yesterday, with 12 participating teams from Bucks and Montgomery Counties. At their first-ever competition, Kaitlyn Hill and Jackie Nikpour earned first place rankings while Johanna Reck and Nik Vasquez ranked second in their events. Sam Rapine and Dyana Baurley went undefeated on the day, debating the threat from failed nations. Melanie Guerrier, Emily Diemer, and Sarah Stecz also notched wins in their debate events. Team leaders Dani Strassburg, Richard Ta, Max Lindsay, Sarah Russakoff, and Christine Ho served as student judges for the league. This team is the first in Upper Merion history to enter students in 5 different league events, including two forms of debate and two types of dramatic readings. Our extemp competitors are piloting the use of laptop computers in preparing for their speeches about current events. Congratulations to the entire team for a strong showing!

11/04/2009
Congratulations to the Forensics Team for Speech and Debate, who returned from Neshaminy yesterday with a number of impressive performances. First time debaters Melanie Guerrier and the team of Emily Diemer and Sarah Stecz notched their first wins yesterday, while first-time contestant Eden Strassburg earned a first place ranking in her speaking event. The debate teams of Sam Rapine and Max Hain, and Arjun Agrawal and Charles Skaf each had a 2-1 record for the day debating the security threats posed to the United States. Christine Ho had a high-ranking speech about the auto industry's troubles, while Captain Dani Strassburg's stongest performance came in a speech on Afghanistan's recent elections. Veterans Richard Ta, Max Lindsay, Alex Tassoni, and Sarah Russakoff served the league as student judges, and many new recruits observed the event in preparation for our home contest in two weeks. Our team meets and competes on Wednesdays throughout the year, and we encourage interested students to contact Mr. Cox or Ms. Dell'Elmo for more information!