Foster/Summer Creek High School - August 23-24
Clear Brook Speech and Debate attended their first tournament of the season, the Foster/Summer Creek Swing, at Foster High School the weekend of August 23rd. In the first half of the swing, team President Greg Stuart placed 4th in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, earning him three state points, as well as placing 4th in Impromptu Speaking! In the latter half of the swing, Greg continued to impress by securing a 2nd place trophy in Impromptu Speaking as well as placing 6th in Domestic Extemp Speaking, adding another state point to his total! Additional successes were achieved by the following semi-finalists: Surabhi Kashyap and Khang Ngo in Domestic Extemp Speaking, and Kendrick Toennies in Foreign Extemp Speaking. Next, the team will travel to Clear Falls for their annual tournament in September.
Woodlands College Park High School- August 31
While much of the team was preparing for the many back-to-back meets to come at the start of the year, team President Greg Stuart attended the Woodlands College Park tournament where he tried to better his already impressive four state points in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking which he picked up at Foster High School last weekend. Placing second and third in his first two rounds of Domestic Extemp, he fell just shy of being in the final round but he did fight valiantly for a place in Impromptu Speaking at the tournament. After placing first and second in prelims and semi-finals respectively, he came out in 1st place overall at the tournament! The team will sit out this coming weekend while they prepare for a month long block beginning next weekend at Clear Falls, followed by Elkins High School, Memorial/Spring Woods High School, and Tompkins High School which will coincide with Clear Brook’s annual homecoming.
Clear Falls High School - September 14
On September 14th, the Clear Brook Speech and Debate team attended the annual tournament held at Clear Falls High School and came home with the tri-fecta of a successful weekend – wins, state points and trophies! In Extemporaneous Speaking, team Vice President Emily Joseph and varsity member Kendrick Toennies won first place trophies in domestic and foreign divisions respectively. Following them was Elaina Joseph and Zaid Asad, who placed second and sixth in foreign extemp respectively, and Khang Ngo, who placed third in domestic. In the novice division, Clear Brook swept the top five positions, with Luke Wills taking first, Jackson Barnett placing second, Jaza Sheikh placing third, followed by Hammad Tariq in 4th and Schylar Langdon in fifth. Fellow varsity members Claire Mayfield and Eman Ahmed also achieved wins for the team, with the former placing second in Prose and the latter placing eighth in Original Oratory. Not to be outdone, the team’s debate contingent also flexed their verbal muscle. The World Schools Debate team consisting of Tiffany Tran, Kendrick Toennies, Emily Joseph and Victoria Constanza bested every other team at the meet and faced off against Clear Springs High School where they were awarded a 3-0 decision by their judge panel. In addition, varsity member Anthony Van also fought hard to achieve a ninth place finish in Student Congress. These wins resulted in the team earning a total of more than 40 state points and propelling at least five team members half way to their Texas Forensic Association state qualification.
Elkins High School - September 20-21
The weekend beginning September 20th found the Wolverine Speech and Debate team at Elkins High School after which the team returned with more wins and state points under their collective belt! On Friday, team Vice President Emily Joseph finished third in the domestic division of Extemporaneous Speaking, earning her three state points. She was followed by team President Greg Stuart who placed fourth overall in the domestic division, picking up two state points, in addition to placing first overall in Impromptu Speaking! In the foreign division, team Social Coordinator Elaina Joseph also placed fourth overall, earning her two state points as well. Meanwhile, Brook speaker and team sophomore Eman Ahmed fought her way to finals in Original Oratory where she finished sixth, allowing her to pick up her first state point of the year! On Saturday, Greg also competed in Student Congress and walked away with a sixth place finish, earning him an additional two state points in that event.
Spring Woods / Memorial High School - September 27-28
After a long two days of competition at the Memorial/Spring Woods Swing held at Spring Woods High School this past weekend, the Clear Brook Speech and Debate team is proud to present its first Texas Forensic State qualifier, team President Greg Stuart! At the end of the first half of the swing, Greg finished fifth overall in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, earning two state points, as well as placing third overall in Impromptu Speaking. In addition, varsity member Abiha Altaf also placed fifth in Informative Speaking, earning two state points as well. At the conclusion of the second half on Saturday, Greg impressed the team once again by finishing third in Domestic Extemp Speaking, which earned him four state points and his TFA State qualification, as well as placing fifth in Impromptu Speaking. Other notable achievements include the World Schools Debate team consisting of Kendrick Toennies, Tiffany Tran, Danetta Paul, Victoria Constanza and Khang Ngo who finished third overall, earning them four state points each, and Abiha Altaf who advanced to semi-finals in Informative Speaking. In total, the team walked away Saturday night with 28 state points, its first State qualifier, with many more within striking distance of their own State qualification!
Tompkins High School - October 5
On October 5, a small contingent of the Wolverine Speech and Debate team attended the tournament held at Tompkins High School. After qualifying for State the weekend prior, team President Greg Stuart decided to continue improving his record and placed first in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, adding another eight state points to his impressive total! Greg also competed in Student Congress and advanced to finals where he was one of the top 16 competitors of over 50, earning an additional two state points. Additional successes were achieved by varsity members Jonathan Kunjumon and Zaid Asad who both advanced to semi-finals in Foreign Extemp Speaking. The team will continue on their quest for more State qualifiers when they travel to Atascocita High School in a few weeks' time.
Atascocita High School - October 18-19
After competing at Atascocita High School the weekend beginning October 18, the Clear Brook Speech and Debate team came home with fourth place sweepstakes and four new state qualifiers, resulting in a to-date state qualifier total of five! The World Schools Debate team consisting of Tiffany Tran, Emily Joseph, Victoria Constanza and Kendrick Toennies bested all but one other team to place second, earning all four team members their state qualification. They join current qualifier and team President Greg Stuart for the team's total qualification to date.
In addition to these wins, Greg Stuart competed in Student Congress and placed eighth overall which earned him four state points, while fellow Student Congress competitor Anthony Van fought his way to the semi-finals round, picking up his first state point of the season. Greg also competed in the foreign division of Extemporaneous Speaking where he placed second, earning another four state points. He was joined by varsity member Kendrick Toennies who placed third, earning three state points, and team Secretary Khang Ngo who placed sixth in the domestic division, earning one additional state point.
In the novice division, Schylar Langdon placed second overall, followed by Luke Wills in third place, Hania Khan in fourth place, and Jeshua Giron in sixth place. Several other members of the team also made it to the semi-finals round of their respective events, including: Merab Saim and Kayanath Chowdhury in Original Oratory, team Vice President Emily Joseph in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, Abhi Kommireddy and Jonathan Ortiz in Impromptu Speaking, and Claire Mayfield in Prose Interpretation.
In addition to these wins, Greg Stuart competed in Student Congress and placed eighth overall which earned him four state points, while fellow Student Congress competitor Anthony Van fought his way to the semi-finals round, picking up his first state point of the season. Greg also competed in the foreign division of Extemporaneous Speaking where he placed second, earning another four state points. He was joined by varsity member Kendrick Toennies who placed third, earning three state points, and team Secretary Khang Ngo who placed sixth in the domestic division, earning one additional state point.
In the novice division, Schylar Langdon placed second overall, followed by Luke Wills in third place, Hania Khan in fourth place, and Jeshua Giron in sixth place. Several other members of the team also made it to the semi-finals round of their respective events, including: Merab Saim and Kayanath Chowdhury in Original Oratory, team Vice President Emily Joseph in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, Abhi Kommireddy and Jonathan Ortiz in Impromptu Speaking, and Claire Mayfield in Prose Interpretation.