On November 4, the San Marin Speech and Debate team attended the second GGSA parliamentary debate tournament of the 2017-2018 school year at Monte Vista High School in Danville. Of the 18 students who participated, eight finished the day with winning records.
Juniors Carina Masters and Aditya Katewa were undefeated in the varsity division, winning all three of their rounds. Junior varsity sophomores Grant Fehring and Taylor Boothe secured a 2-1 record. Freshmen Emma Rice, Elizabeth DeRuvo, Vincent Long and Kian Namiranian also earned 2-1 records at the novice level.
“I am so proud of the students – we have to battle against schools who have daily debate classes and multiple coaches. We have a volunteer coach and meet for a limited amount of time as an after-school club. So when our teams win, those wins are more impressive,” coach Karen Kenyon said.
Advised by English teacher Kathy Warren, the San Marin Speech and Debate team is self-supported and comprised of about 46 students from all four grade levels. They have already participated in tournaments at UC Berkeley and University of the Pacific this fall, and will debate at Stanford University in the second semester.
“Debating is a passion of mine. It forces you to dive into matters that I don’t think many kids know about, from the perspective you might not have. I think it’s also extremely important for kids to learn about current events, how the government works and learn as much as possible about the world they are in,” Masters said.
