Debaters Advance To National Competition
Debaters from Vanguard College Preparatory School emerged as National Qualifiers at the JBJ District competition of the National Forensic League. The National competition will be held June 10-15 in Las Vegas. Alex Krzywonski and Hannah Thompson represented as a Public Forum debate team. Caitlin Leslie competed in Original Oratory, and Dylan Losey competed in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking. Alternates to the national competition are Robert Braswell V in Student Congress and Elidia Berg for Original Oratory.
Thirty high schools ranging in size from UIL 5 A to TAPPS 3A entered the district contest. Although hundreds of students competed in the initial speech and debate rounds, only the top two finalists in each event advanced to Nationals. Thousands of students from across the United States and its territories compete for awards as well as a chance to receive lucrative college scholarships. The Vanguard students will be accompanied by their coaches Rebecca Melton and Suzanne Kelly. This is the seventh consecutive year that Vanguard has sent its debaters to Nationals.