LCHS Debate Team Heads to State Finals

There were shouts of joy, hugs and high-fives this weekend at Schurr High School in Montebello, as four members of La Cañada High School’s speech and debate team advanced to the state finals -- best performance in more than 10 years.

The Spartans competed in the Southern California Debate League, and now will head to the state tournament. From there, victorious debaters would take the national stage via the National Forensics League competition. The League's vision is that every child in the United States will be empowered to become an effective communicator, ethical individual, critical thinker and leader in a democratic society. 

At La Cañada High, the parliamentary debate team of seniors Tyler Jones and Sam Whitefield and the public forum team of senior Andrew Park and sophomore Yongsoo Kim took top honors after an intense day of competition at the Southern California Debate League State Qualifier Tournament.

Coached by LCHS English teacher Susan Moore, the Spartan squad fielded nine teams, with four surviving the preliminary rounds to advance to the semifinals. After heated debates against some of the best teams in the area, including those from Crescenta Valley, San Marino, Gabrielino, Sierra Madre, Schurr, Walnut and others, the two teams advanced to the state finals in San Francisco.  

There, they will face the top debaters from around the state in the parliamentary and public forum debate categories at the California High School State Speech Association State Tournament at Lowell High School on April 27-29.

"I am so proud of our speech and debate team. These talented students fought hard and achieved the recognition they deserved,” Moore said. “I look forward to getting ready for the state tournament; we have many hours of research and practice ahead of us. I am honored to be a small part of their success."

Jones and Whitefield won three early debates, putting them into the elimination round, where they were also undefeated. In their final match –- in parliamentary debate, the students are given just 20 minutes to prepare on a topic they’ve not been told about in advance -- they emerged victorious in a debate on the topic: "The war on drugs is inadvisable in a free society."

The Park-Kim team took a similar path to the state finals, winning three preliminary matches and two elimination ones to finish undefeated. In the public forum category, the team competed against others -- arguing either for or against – each time on the topic:  “The United States should suspend all assistance to Pakistan.”

Also competing for La Cañada were the teams of Kelly Bae and Adriana Cho, Brad Cavanagh and Nathan Debretsion , Michael Coppinger and Derrick Lee, David Garner and Grant Haxton, Brian Kim and Jihee Yoon, Daniel Rhee and Bradley Uyemura, and Allison Salter and Ani Sarkissian.

The National Forensic's League is a not-for-profit honor society created to recognize high school students in speech and debate. It is the oldest and largest interscholastic forensic organization.

This year, more than 112,000 high school and middle school students, representing more than 2,800 high schools and nearly 100 middle schools, are building their communication, leadership, cognitive and presentational skills as members.