ompeting in World Schools debate for the first time, the team of Christopher Aguiar, Sean Buechele, and William Duval finished in second place overall. They tackled various topics including Charter Schools in the US, lobbying ethics in D.C, the formation of the UN Security Council, and the commercialization of social justice issues. This is the first time the Explorers compete in this style of debate, and we made quite the impression in the new format. 

 

In Policy Debate, the team of Sebastian Lasaga and Nicholas Sosa finished in 2nd place overall. In only his second tournament, Nicholas was also recognized as the 2nd best speaker. In policy they were debating increasing legal immigration into the U.S. 

 

In Mixed Extemporaneous Speaking, Marcos Ortega and Marcelo Villar-Ojito had a strong showing. Marcelo, who was competing for the first time ever, finished as the top novice speaker and 3rd place in the overall competition.

 

Last but not least, junior Gabriel Perez had a great tournament finishing in 2nd place in Dramatic Performance, and advancing to the final round before receiving 4th place in Impromptu speaking. Gabriel was performing the comedic piece Occupy Space by Grady Hendrix.

 

The Varsity debaters faced some tough competition but Jesus Capo, Andrew Castro, and Javier Hernandez had some big wins against top ranked national competitors. Unfortunately, our boys missed the elimination rounds but honorary Explorer Amanda Ciocca had a great outing finishing with a 4-2 record, and the 10th overall seed in preliminary rounds.