On Saturday, February 27, the state qualifiers for speech events were held at California State University, Long Beach. Freshman Coco Sanabria and senior Destin Bigsby both participated in the qualifier, but they did not make it to the state competition.
“Neither Coco nor I qualified for state, unfortunately,” said Bigsby. “But Coco is only a freshman and she seems to be on track for a state qualification in the future.”
Both Sanabria and Bigsby participated in the impromptu event, which requires speakers to create a four-to-seven minute speech on the spot in two minutes and then present it in front of the judges. In addition to these challenges, speakers in this year’s impromptu category had to compete against 60+ other competitors. In order to qualify for the state competition, speakers must place in the top five in their event.
Bigsby also participated in the original prose and poetry event. In this event, meant to engage a speaker’s creative side, speakers write a piece of prose or poetry in advance of the competition and present it to the judges. This piece must be at least five or six minutes long and memorized.
On Saturday, March 4, the state qualifiers for debate events were held at Schurr High School. This event is a simulation of the US legislative process in the Senate and the House. Students must prepare for debate on numerous topics and are assessed on their research, argumentation, and delivery skills. Freshman William Terlinden participated and senior Crispin Jay Salapare competed, but unfortunately did not place.
Novice Championships will be held in May.
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