India Dinner celebrates talents of speech and debate team
For the members of the Wooster High School Speech and Debate team, being part of a storied program that goes back more than 80 years carries with it certain expectations.
The 2010-2011 edition of the team certainly rose to the occasion.
As the long speech and debate season came to a close, hundreds of members of the community gathered at the Shisler Center in Wooster on March 23 to celebrate the team’s accomplishments and to partake of some of the finest Indian cuisine this side of New Delhi during the Speech and Debate Parent’s Association annual India Dinner.
Before turning the mic over to the half dozen members of the team who performed the pieces they perfected over the course of the season, head coach Ned Lauver recapped the team’s incredible accomplishments this year.
When the regular tournament season concluded, the team headed to Stow-Munroe Falls in January to compete in the Ohio High School Speech League District tournament, emerging with its 30th consecutive Akron District championship and defeating its nearest rival by more than 60 points.
A few weeks later, the 33 members of the team who qualified for the State championship tournament headed to Toledo, where the team finished in the top 20 out of more than 80 teams and sophomore Elizabeth Kleinhenz placed third in the state out of the 50 competitors in the United States Extemporaneous Speaking category.
While most of the team can now sit back and reflect on another successful season, for nine members of the team, the highlight of the speech and debate season still lies ahead.
According to Lauver, throughout the course of the season, five students qualified to compete in the National Forensics League National Tournament in Dallas in June, and another four qualified as alternates to the prestigious national championships.
Qualifying to compete at Nationals were the Policy Debate team of Magie Eby and Chelsea Zhu, Elizabeth Kleinhenz (United States extemporaneous speaking), Matthew Sparr (original oratory) and Kristy Kalikasingh (congressional debate). Serving as a first alternates to the tournament are Michael Pinkham (Lincoln/Douglas debate) and Kayla Villegas (dramatic interpretation). The Public Forum Debate team of Kyla Hemphill and Thomas FitzGibbon will serve as second alternates.
According to Lauver, by once again qualifying students to compete at Nationals, Wooster will be making its 61st appearance at the national tournament, more than any other high school in America, public or private.
The annual India Dinner gave the community the opportunity to share the team’s accomplishments this year and at the same time, be a part of the seasons that lie ahead.
The concept for the India Dinner originated six years ago when former speech and debate parent Dr. Parwinder Grewal of OARDC was searching for a unique fundraiser that provided the opportunity for the students to showcase their talents, while increasing awareness for the program and raising funds for the establishment of a Speech and Debate Parents Association Endowment Fund.
Rather than serving traditional banquet food, Grewal decided to go a much different route and introduced the community to the cuisine of his native India.
Since it began in 2006, the event has grown in popularity and draws several hundred community members each year.
All the funds raised during the India Dinner are placed in the endowment fund and used to support the team’s activities. Interest generated from the fund is used to help needy students who otherwise could not afford to participate in the program, to help defray the costs of sending national qualifiers to the national championships and to help offset the costs of students who participate in summer speech and debate camps.
The 2010-2011 edition of the team certainly rose to the occasion.
As the long speech and debate season came to a close, hundreds of members of the community gathered at the Shisler Center in Wooster on March 23 to celebrate the team’s accomplishments and to partake of some of the finest Indian cuisine this side of New Delhi during the Speech and Debate Parent’s Association annual India Dinner.
Before turning the mic over to the half dozen members of the team who performed the pieces they perfected over the course of the season, head coach Ned Lauver recapped the team’s incredible accomplishments this year.
When the regular tournament season concluded, the team headed to Stow-Munroe Falls in January to compete in the Ohio High School Speech League District tournament, emerging with its 30th consecutive Akron District championship and defeating its nearest rival by more than 60 points.
A few weeks later, the 33 members of the team who qualified for the State championship tournament headed to Toledo, where the team finished in the top 20 out of more than 80 teams and sophomore Elizabeth Kleinhenz placed third in the state out of the 50 competitors in the United States Extemporaneous Speaking category.
While most of the team can now sit back and reflect on another successful season, for nine members of the team, the highlight of the speech and debate season still lies ahead.
According to Lauver, throughout the course of the season, five students qualified to compete in the National Forensics League National Tournament in Dallas in June, and another four qualified as alternates to the prestigious national championships.
Qualifying to compete at Nationals were the Policy Debate team of Magie Eby and Chelsea Zhu, Elizabeth Kleinhenz (United States extemporaneous speaking), Matthew Sparr (original oratory) and Kristy Kalikasingh (congressional debate). Serving as a first alternates to the tournament are Michael Pinkham (Lincoln/Douglas debate) and Kayla Villegas (dramatic interpretation). The Public Forum Debate team of Kyla Hemphill and Thomas FitzGibbon will serve as second alternates.
According to Lauver, by once again qualifying students to compete at Nationals, Wooster will be making its 61st appearance at the national tournament, more than any other high school in America, public or private.
The annual India Dinner gave the community the opportunity to share the team’s accomplishments this year and at the same time, be a part of the seasons that lie ahead.
The concept for the India Dinner originated six years ago when former speech and debate parent Dr. Parwinder Grewal of OARDC was searching for a unique fundraiser that provided the opportunity for the students to showcase their talents, while increasing awareness for the program and raising funds for the establishment of a Speech and Debate Parents Association Endowment Fund.
Rather than serving traditional banquet food, Grewal decided to go a much different route and introduced the community to the cuisine of his native India.
Since it began in 2006, the event has grown in popularity and draws several hundred community members each year.
All the funds raised during the India Dinner are placed in the endowment fund and used to support the team’s activities. Interest generated from the fund is used to help needy students who otherwise could not afford to participate in the program, to help defray the costs of sending national qualifiers to the national championships and to help offset the costs of students who participate in summer speech and debate camps.
Published: April 4, 2011
