Woodlands College Park - September 1-2
Brook Speech & Debate attended their first tournament of the new competition year when they headed out to the Woodlands College Park High School on September 1st. Taking only three students to this first outing, team member and Extemporaneous Speaking Captain for the team captured a first place win in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking! This feat ended in Greg taking home the 1st place trophy from the meet as well as eight Texas Forensic Association state points. He only needs two more in order to attend the annual state meet which is held in Houston this year. The team will head out to Clear Falls on the 15th of this month which will coincide with Clear Brook High School’s homecoming.
Clear Falls High School - September 15-16
The Wolverine Speech & Debate team attended their latest tournament of the season at Clear Falls High School on September 15-16 which was a balancing act as it occurred on the same weekend as Brook’s annual homecoming. The team’s first victory was the Homecoming crowning of the 2023 Homecoming King Gabriel Torres who is also the team’s President. Gabriel also found success at Clear Falls by placing in the final round of Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking and earning his first state point!
His fellow Extemporaneous Speakers also found success, namely Ariella Calili and Emily Joseph who placed second and fifth in the Domestic division which earned them six and two points respectively toward their state goals! The Novice division of this category saw three new team members – Ethan Jacob, Zaid Asad and Jonathan Kunjumon take home third, fourth and sixth place finishes, in that order.
Fellow varsity members rounded out the meet this weekend by earning an additional cumulative total of eight points toward state goals – Isabelle Wills, fourth place and two points in Original Oratory; Misbah Aziz, third place and three points in Informative Speaking; Stephen Wiggins, fifth place and one point in Informative Speaking and Ayla Goodin, fourth place and two points in Program of Oral Interpretation.
Additional successes were achieved by the following semi-finalists: Yumna Kalajo, Elaina Joseph, and Kendrick Toennies.
His fellow Extemporaneous Speakers also found success, namely Ariella Calili and Emily Joseph who placed second and fifth in the Domestic division which earned them six and two points respectively toward their state goals! The Novice division of this category saw three new team members – Ethan Jacob, Zaid Asad and Jonathan Kunjumon take home third, fourth and sixth place finishes, in that order.
Fellow varsity members rounded out the meet this weekend by earning an additional cumulative total of eight points toward state goals – Isabelle Wills, fourth place and two points in Original Oratory; Misbah Aziz, third place and three points in Informative Speaking; Stephen Wiggins, fifth place and one point in Informative Speaking and Ayla Goodin, fourth place and two points in Program of Oral Interpretation.
Additional successes were achieved by the following semi-finalists: Yumna Kalajo, Elaina Joseph, and Kendrick Toennies.
Klein High School - September 22-23
With Clear Brook's homecoming in the rear view mirror, most of the team decided to take this weekend off but Greg Stuart, one of the team's juniors and most point decorated member of the team to date, decided to travel out to Klein High School to build on his current state point total. After earning eight points in Domestic Extemp at the Woodlands College Park a few weeks ago, Greg decided to venture out and try Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking instead. At the end of the meet on Saturday, Greg proudly walked away with a second place finish! This earned him four points in Foreign Extemp! This win sets the stage for Greg to be qualified in two events at the end of the season if he can keep up his winning streak!
Memorial/Spring Woods High School - September 29-30
This weekend found the Wolverine Speech & Debate team at Spring Woods High School for their annual Memorial/Spring Woods Swing - two tournaments in one! At the end of the first half of the swing, the Memorial side, the team advanced the following members to semi-finals: Emily Joseph and Khang Ngo in Domestic Extemp Speaking, Elaina Joseph in Foreign Extemp Speaking and Abiha Altaf and Stephen Wiggins in Informative Speaking. When Saturday rolled around, the team would realize the following advancements to semi-finals: Misbah Aziz and Abiha Altaf in Informative Speaking, and Greg Stuart and Khang Ngo in Domestic Extemp Speaking. Point earners for the weekend included Alim Merchant who advanced to Octa-Finals in LD Debate, earning two state points, Elaina Joseph who placed 4th overall in Foreign Extemp Speaking, earning three points, and the World Schools Debate team consisting of Qaswa Khan, Simran Lama, Maha Majid and Gabriel Torres who placed 3rd overall, earning four points each.
Bellaire High School - October 6-7
The Wolverine Speech & Debate team attended Bellaire High School's annual tournament and returned to Clear Brook with a 1st place finish in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and the team's first Texas Forensic State qualification by Greg Stuart! Greg was joined in the final round of Domestic Extemp by fellow teammate and team sophomore Emily Joseph who placed 5th and earned one more point toward her state total. In Informative Speaking, team members Stephen Wiggins and Abiha Altaf placed 4th and 6th respectively, earning two and one points respectively. Rounding out the team's successes was team Vice President Isabelle who advanced to the final round of her event, Original Oratory and placed 5th overall which earned her one more point toward her state total. Competitors Zaid Asad, Khang Ngo and Isabella Tripoli advanced to the semi-final rounds of their events, Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oratory respectively. The team will head off to Atascocita High School in a few weeks to continue their quest for more state qualifiers!
Atascocita High School - October 20-21
The Wolverine speakers and debaters are fresh off of their weekend at Atascocita where they earned more points and hardware to show for their efforts! Team junior and extemporaneous captain Greg Stuart flexed his muscle and brought home four state points in Foreign Extemp Speaking which brings his state total in this event to eight! He also placed first in Impromptu Speaking. The World Schools Debate team consisting of Gabe Torres, Maha Majid, Simran Lama and Qaswa Khan fought their way to the quarter finals round of their event and picked up two state points, bringing their total to six. Meanwhile, Abiha Altaf fought her way to finals in Informative Speaking where she placed fourth, bringing her state total in this event to four and she also picked up one point in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking by advancing to the semi-final bracket! Additional semi-final finishes were achieved by Stephen Wiggins and Anthony Van in Informative Speaking as well as by Viann Nguyen and Merab Saim in Dramatic Interpretation and Original Oratory respectively.
Grand Oaks High School - November 3-4
Clear Brook debaters and speakers were out this weekend at Grand Oaks High School, coming home with five new state qualifiers for the upcoming Texas Forensic Association State tournament to be held in Houston in March of next year. The World Schools Debate team consisting of Gabe Torres, Simran Lama, Qaswa Khan and Maha Majid bested every other team at the meet to achieve a 3-0 win in finals over Tomball High School.'s best team. This earned all four team members their state qualification. Extemporaneous Speakers, headed by Ariella Calili who placed 2nd in the domestic division and who earned her state qual, led the team in the next set of wins. Following Ariella in the domestic division was Khang Ngo who placed fourth overall as well as Elaina Joseph and Gregory Stuart who placed 2nd and 5th respectively in the foreign division. This placement by Greg puts him with one point of striking distance of his second qualification and Elaina within three points of hers. Additional speaking wins were brought home by Stephen Wiggins who placed first in Informative Speaking, culminating in nine total points, followed by Anthony Van who placed seventh. Additionally, Isabelle Wills achieved a second place win in Original Oratory while Ayla Yoakum and Claire Mayfield placed fourth and sixth in Program of Oral Interpretation. This impressive list of accomplishments results in 59 state points for the team and resulted in a to-date state qualified student total of six with at least three who are waiting in the wings!
Big Cat Swing - Cy Fair High School - November 17-18
While most of the team took the weekend off to begin their Thanksgiving holiday early, team junior Greg Stuart decided to keep building his impressive state qualification total by attending the Big Cat Swing hosted at Cypress Fairbanks High School on November 17th and 18th where he competed in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. At this meet, where two schools host on the same weekend at the same facility, Greg had the opportunity to compete in both meets and - impressively - he found himself in the final round for both halves at the meet! At both meets, Greg placed 2nd, besting more than 25 other competitors each time! This stunning finish ended with not only trophies but more state points to add to his total. With an additional 12 points from this meet, Greg now has 26 points in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking as well as another 9 points in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking.
Clear Lake High School - December 1-2
Brook Speech & Debate is proud to announce its seventh qualifier for TFA State later next March! This weekend at Clear Lake High School's annual tournament, senior Stephen Wiggins took home the silver which earned him four state points, bringing his needed total of ten to an impressive thirteen! Following Stephen in second place finishes was senior Ayla Yoakum who placed in Program of Oral Interpretation, which also earned her four more points to end her current total at eight. Additionally, team sophomore Khang Ngo fought his way to a third place finish in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking where he picked up points to bring his current standing to seven while his fellow speaker, Emily Joseph placed fifth and picked up two additional points, bringing her to five, half way to her state qualification. Last but certainly not least, team vice president and Oratory speaker Isabelle Wills picked one additional point, bringing her to eight points. The team continues their journey to state qualifiers over the next few weeks and into next semseter where they hope to end their state qualifier total at or near thirteen or greater.
Cypress/Jersey Village Swing - December 8-9
This weekend found a small contingent of the team at Jersey Village High School participating in their annual swing tournament. At the end of the meet, the team walked away with their eighth state qualifier, sophomore Elaina Joseph in Foreign Extemp Speaking! In addition to Elaina's placing 5th in her primary event, fellow teammates also fought their way to out rounds in debate or finals in individual events, all claiming state points. Sophomore Alim Merchant managed an impressive 4-0 record in prelims to advance to the top 16 LD Debaters at the meet where he picked up two additional state points, making his current total four. In addition, Greg Stuart, who already has 26 points in Domestic Extemp Speaking placed 4th, picking up three additional points while Original Oratory Speaker Isabelle Wills achieved a semi-final finish in her event, picking up her ninth state point. Informative speaker Misbah Aziz picked up her fifth state point while Ayla Yoakum fought her way to her ninth point in Program of Oral Interpretation.
Spring/Tomball Memorial Swing - December 15-16
As the holiday season approaches, Brook's speakers and debaters are thrilled to unwrap even more state qualifiers after their showing at Spring High School this weekend! As a result, the team can now claim TWELVE state qualifiers, leading CCISD once again at this time of the year. New qualifiers this weekend include: Misbah Aziz who placed 1st in Informative Speaking, Ayla Yoakum who placed 6th in Program of Oral Interpretation, and Greg Stuart who placed 5th in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking. This is Greg's second qualifying event for the season.
In addition to these new qualifiers, the team had many other successes, beginning with a 1st place finish in World Schools Debate by the team of Gabe Torres, Qaswa Khan, Tiffany Tran, Danette Paul and Victoria Constanza! While Gabe and Qaswa are already qualified in this event, their other three members now have six points of their own which puts them well on their way to a TFA State qualification if they keep up their hard work next semester!
Elaina Joseph, one of the team's many sophomore members picked up four more points by placing 2nd in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking which brings her new total to nine, just one point shy of her state qualification. And although not picking up points this weekend, semi-finalists in their events this weekend included Viann Nguyen and Isabella Tripoli in Original Oratory.
In addition to these new qualifiers, the team had many other successes, beginning with a 1st place finish in World Schools Debate by the team of Gabe Torres, Qaswa Khan, Tiffany Tran, Danette Paul and Victoria Constanza! While Gabe and Qaswa are already qualified in this event, their other three members now have six points of their own which puts them well on their way to a TFA State qualification if they keep up their hard work next semester!
Elaina Joseph, one of the team's many sophomore members picked up four more points by placing 2nd in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking which brings her new total to nine, just one point shy of her state qualification. And although not picking up points this weekend, semi-finalists in their events this weekend included Viann Nguyen and Isabella Tripoli in Original Oratory.
Mayde Creek High School - January 13
Domestic Extemporaneous Speaker Khang Ngo became the team's thirteenth qualifying entry to the Texas Forensic Association state tournament that is being held in Houston just prior to spring break. Khang bested all but one other competitor in this event to place second which earned him four points, ending in a to-date season total of 11 points. He also placed sixth in Impromptu Speaking. Fellow team member Greg Stuart, who is qualified for Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking at least three times over and who is also state qualified in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, walked away with a 6th place finish in the domestic division. Fellow team member Yumna Kalajo flexed her muscle in Original Oratory where she placed second in prelims, advancing to semi-finals.
Clear Creek High School - January 19-20
This past weekend, January 19th and 20th found the Wolverine Speech & Debate team once again hard at work at Clear Creek High School trying to get some last minute state qualifiers on the board before their annual Texas Forensic Association state meet which is held every March. At the end of the weekend, both varsity and novice competitors walked away proud! The varsity contingent added one more state qualifier to their ranks – sophomore Emily Joseph who placed 3rd in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking! She becomes the thirteenth member of the team to qualify for state but the fourteenth overall qualified entry.
In addition to Emily’s big win, the varsity team also achieved the following accolades: Greg Stuart who placed 5th in Student Congress and who advanced to semi-finals in Impromptu Speaking, Isabelle Wills who placed 4th overall in Original Oratory, and Abiha Altaf and Stephen Wiggins who placed 4th and 6th overall in Informative Speaking. Fellow varsity members Viann Nguyen and Yumna Kalajo advanced to semi-finals in their main event, Original Oratory while Ariella Calili and Isabelle Wills tried their hands at Public Forum Debate for the first time ever and placed top eight at the tournament!
Novices also saw some great achievements! First time World Schools Debate competitors Zaid Asad, Daniela Alba, Nathaniel Calili and Kendrick Toennies were the third placed seeded team, missing the final bracket by a mere three points! Additionally, Zaid advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemp Speaking while teammate Kendrick Toennies went on to placed 4th overall in this event, picking up his first two state points! In addition, newcomers Bryce Kelly, Jonathan Kunjumon and Nathaniel Calili fought their way to the final round of Novice Extemp where they placed 3rd, 5th and 6th respectively!
In addition to Emily’s big win, the varsity team also achieved the following accolades: Greg Stuart who placed 5th in Student Congress and who advanced to semi-finals in Impromptu Speaking, Isabelle Wills who placed 4th overall in Original Oratory, and Abiha Altaf and Stephen Wiggins who placed 4th and 6th overall in Informative Speaking. Fellow varsity members Viann Nguyen and Yumna Kalajo advanced to semi-finals in their main event, Original Oratory while Ariella Calili and Isabelle Wills tried their hands at Public Forum Debate for the first time ever and placed top eight at the tournament!
Novices also saw some great achievements! First time World Schools Debate competitors Zaid Asad, Daniela Alba, Nathaniel Calili and Kendrick Toennies were the third placed seeded team, missing the final bracket by a mere three points! Additionally, Zaid advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemp Speaking while teammate Kendrick Toennies went on to placed 4th overall in this event, picking up his first two state points! In addition, newcomers Bryce Kelly, Jonathan Kunjumon and Nathaniel Calili fought their way to the final round of Novice Extemp where they placed 3rd, 5th and 6th respectively!
Alief Elsik Swing Tournament - January 26-27
Wolverine debaters and speakers were both out this past weekend at Alief Elsik High School at the annual swing meet hosted by their ninth grade and high school campuses. At the end of the meets, several members inched their way closer to their Texas Forensic Association state qualification. To begin, LD Debater Alim Merchant fought his way to a 3-1 victory in prelims, advancing to octa-finals where he unfortunately dropped but did pick up two more state points for a total of six.
In speaking events, Informative speaker Abiha Altaf competed in both halves of the swing and she placed 4th and 5th which netted three points for a current total of seven, putting her within striking distance as well. Junior and most decorated speaker Greg Stuart competed in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking where he placed 5th and 3rd which earned him another six points on his already more than 30 points in this event this season. Greg also competed in Impromptu where he placed 2nd. Fellow Domestic Extemp Speaker Ariella Calili, who is also state qualified at this time, placed 6th in this event in the first half of this tournament.
In speaking events, Informative speaker Abiha Altaf competed in both halves of the swing and she placed 4th and 5th which netted three points for a current total of seven, putting her within striking distance as well. Junior and most decorated speaker Greg Stuart competed in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking where he placed 5th and 3rd which earned him another six points on his already more than 30 points in this event this season. Greg also competed in Impromptu where he placed 2nd. Fellow Domestic Extemp Speaker Ariella Calili, who is also state qualified at this time, placed 6th in this event in the first half of this tournament.
NSDA District at St. Agnes Academy - February 22-24
Greg Stuart became the first member of the Wolverine Speech & Debate team this year to qualify for the National Speech & Debate Association annual national tournament which will be held in West Des Moines, IA in June. He placed third overall in US Extemporaneous Speaking after three days of arduous competition. His fellow teammate and sophomore member Emily Joseph ranked 4th overall, making her the first alternate in this same event while team senior and team officer Ariella Calili advanced to the semi-final bracket before falling out of competition. Isabelle Wills, also a senior and member of the officer team walked away as the third alternate in her event, Original Oratory.
TFA State - March 7-10
Brook Speech & Debate once again reigned supreme in CCISD with the most number of state qualifiers who participated just before Spring Break in west Houston at the annual state tournament. Participants included Gabe Torres, Simran Lama, Qaswa Khan, Maha Majid, Ariella Calili, Emily Joseph, Elaina Joseph, Greg Stuart, Ayla Yoakum, Khang Ngo, Isabelle Wills and Stephen Wiggins. At end of their grueling rounds of prelims, three Brook speakers rose to the top of their events - Greg Stuart and Ariella Calili in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking and Elaina Joseph in International Extemporaneous Speaking! After making it to the quarter-finals round at the state meet, Greg has the distinction of being the 22nd Domestic Speaker in the state of Texas while Ariella and Elaina placed 37th overall in their respective divisions, Domestic and Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking!
NSDA District Congress - March 25th
On March 25th, Bellaire High School hosted the annual National Speech & Debate Association Student Congress tournament where more wins were accumulated by Brook speakers and debaters! Khang Ngo, a sophomore member on the team, advanced to the final House chamber of Congress where he was one of the top 16 competitors of almost 70. In addition, Greg Stuart came away with a 4th place overall rank in the Senate chamber which makes him the second alternate to the NSDA National tournament that will be hosted in West Des Moines, IA later this summer. Greg is already qualified for Nationals in US Extemporaneous Speaking for this meet. In addition, senior member and team president Gabe Torres was named to be part the South Texas World Schools Debate team which will be comprised of at least four schools from around the great South Texas Houston area.
UIL District - April 13th
At the annual District 24-6A Academic meet, the Wolverine Speech & Debate team began to wrap up its year with an impressive list of wins, particularly in the events of Informative and Persuasive Extemporaneous Speaking. In Persuasive Extemp, Emily Joseph placed second which qualifies her to compete at Region in the coming weeks. Fellow competitors Gabe Torres and Elaina Joseph placed 4th and 5th respectively, making them the first two alternates to the Region meet. In Informative Extemp, senior and team officer Ariella Calili seized the silver medal which qualifies her for Region while fellow teammate Greg Stuart took home the bronze and newcomer Kendrick Toennies placed 5th! On the more creative side of things, specifically in Poetry Interpretation, senior Stephen Wiggins placed 5th overall while Merab Saim and Claire Mayfield both placed 6th.
Year-End Banquet - May 11th
Brook Speech & Debate ended its year with their annual banquet at Challenger Columbia Stadium on May 11th. High points of the evening included superlative awards, UIL awards, NSDA announcements for nationals, scholarships, the sending off of graduates and so much more! At the end of the evening team President Gabe Torres was awarded the Amanda's Legacy Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,000.00 while Stephen Wiggins was awarded the team's Core Value Scholarship in the amount of $500.00. Additional noteworthy awards included Gabe Torres being named the team's four-year MVP while Greg Stuart was named the team's MVP for the current 2023-2024 year. And at the end of the evening, new officers were named! For the upcoming year, officers will be: Greg Stuart (President), Emily Joseph (Vice President), Khang Ngo (Secretary), Elaina Joseph (Social Coordinator) and Alim Merchant (Historian).
