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.
Grand Oaks High School - November 1-2
The Clear Brook speech and debate team competed at Grand Oaks High School the weekend of November 1st and came back with another state qualification and many more wins, state points and trophies! After competing in six rounds of debate over the span of two days, the World Schools Debate team consisting of Elaina Joseph, Emily Joseph, Khang Ngo, Alim Merchant and Tiffany Tran finished second overall, earning each member an additional six state points! Additionally, team President Greg Stuart competed in Student Congress and finished eighth overall, earning him three state points. Greg also placed first in Impromptu Speaking and second in the foreign division of Extemporaneous Speaking, the latter of which earning him an additional six state points and his second state qualification! He was joined by team Secretary Khang Ngo who placed third overall in the domestic division, earning him four state points, as well as team novice Schylar Langdon who placed second in the novice division. In addition to these wins, team novice Abhi Kommireddy advanced to semi-finals in both Impromptu Speaking and Novice Extemp Speaking, as well as Kelyn Tran, Kayanath Chowdhury and Sophia Merchant who all advanced to the semi-finals round in Original Oratory. Next, the team will begin preparations to host their own tournament at Brook before continuing on their quest for more state qualifiers at Clear Lake the weekend after.
Clear Lake High School - November 15-16
After competing at Clear Lake's annual meet on the weekend of November 15, the Clear Brook Speech and Debate team is proud to announce that its very own team President Greg Stuart has state qualified once again! After besting his competitors in both the domestic and foreign divisions of Extemporaneous Speaking, Greg competed in Student Congress and placed first overall, earning him six state points and his third state qualification! Alongside him was team novice Hammad Tariq who competed in Student Congress for the first time and placed 10th overall. In addition, Greg also competed in Domestic Extemp Speaking and Impromptu Speaking and placed third overall in both, with the former adding another four state points to his already impressive total. He was joined by Brook speakers Merab Saim and Sophia Merchant who placed first and fourth respectively in Original Oratory, earning the former six state points and the latter two state points, as well as Abiha Altaf who placed sixth in Informative Speaking, earning her one state point, and team Historian Alim Merchant who finished sixth in Impromptu Speaking. Other notable achievements include the following semi-finalists: team novices Schylar Langdon and Hammad Tariq in Novice Extemp Speaking, Luke Wills in Domestic Extemp Speaking, and Alim Merchant, Elaina Joseph, Kendrick Toennies and Zaid Asad in Foreign Extemp Speaking.
Big Cat Swing at Cy Fair ISD - November 22
The weekend that preceded the Thanksgiving holiday week found a small contingent of the Wolverine Speech & Debate team at the Big Cat Swing tournament hosted by Cypress Creek High School on November 22nd and 23rd. The team walked away with yet more state points! These points are attributed to team President Gregory Stuart who placed 7th overall in Student Congress resulting in three more state points that are added to his already impressive total! Greg was followed by four of his fellow teammates who specialize in Original Oratory who all placed in the semi-final round: Eman Ahmed, Kayanath Chowdhury, Sophia Merchant and Kelyn Tran. Each of these speakers earned one more state point toward their twelve point goal bringing Sophia to three points and Eman to two. These are the first state points for both Kayanath and Kelyn which were earned after they both placed FIRST in their preliminary round!
Spring High School - December 6-7
The weekend of December 6th found the Wolverine Speech & Debate team hard at work at Spring High School where they added to their state point totals as well as qualifiers for the state meet coming up in March. After five arduous rounds of debate, the World Schools Debate team that consists of Tiffany Tran, Alaina Van, Elaina Joseph, Khang Ngo and Kendrick Toennies walked away undefeated and took 1st place. This finish qualified Khang and Elaina for the state meet which brings the team's total qualifier number to seven with 9 total quals as a result of team President Gregory Stuart who is qualified in three separate events! Greg added to his point totals in both Congress and Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking by placing 1st in both of those events which brings his total for all events for the year to an impressive 72! He also placed 3rd in Impromptu Speaking. Joining Greg in the ranks of Extemporaneous Speaking is fellow officer Elaina Joseph who placed 2nd in the Foreign division. Additional wins were also brought home by novice members Maryam Baker and Hammad Tariq who placed 4th and 6th respectively.
Cypress Freeze at Jersey Village - December 13-14
Headed up to their holiday break that begins later this month, the Wolverine Debate team found themselves at Jersey Village High School seeking out one last opportunity for state points and qualifications before the new year this past weekend, December 13th and 14th. At the end of the online debate portion of the meet that began Wednesday and ended Thursday, the World Schools Debate team consisting of Alaina Van, Alim Merchant, Emily Joseph, Elaina Joseph and Tiffany Tran, found themselves in semi-finals against Clear Springs High School - a round that they unfortunately lost on a 1-2 ballot decision from their panel. Even so, sophomore team member Alaina Van acquired her last needed four points to earn her state qualification. Fellow teammate and team historian Alim Merchant added to his total and now sits at ten of his needed twelve.
At the in-person portion of the meet which began on Friday, Sara Sijo fought her way to the final round of Dramatic Interpretation where she picked up her first two points of the season while team President Gregory Stuart walked away with a 1st place finish in Impromptu Speaking and a 4th place finish in Domestic Extemp which adds more points to his impressive total for the year.
At the in-person portion of the meet which began on Friday, Sara Sijo fought her way to the final round of Dramatic Interpretation where she picked up her first two points of the season while team President Gregory Stuart walked away with a 1st place finish in Impromptu Speaking and a 4th place finish in Domestic Extemp which adds more points to his impressive total for the year.
Winston Churchill High School - January 10-11
Team President and Clear Brook senior Gregory Stuart ventured out solo after the holiday break to the 50th anniversary of the Winston Churchill High School speech and debate tournament in San Antonio to work on his Extemp and Student Congress skills as he looks forward to the team's upcoming state meet later this year in March. While he did well in Student Congress, he just missed the break but found his greatest success in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
After beginning his first round with the topic "Does California need to ban resettlement in fire-prone areas?" and then competing in two more preliminary rounds, he found himself situated in a grueling semi-finals round before finally seeing his name dropped from the rafters on a finals posting! His final topic for the meet was "What viable approaches can the US pursue to help workers shift from fossil fuel employment to new industries?" In this final round with a panel of five judges, he walked away 5th place with ranks from the panel of 1, 4, 4, 5 and 5, besting 30 other competitors who began the meet with him in prelims on Friday night.
After beginning his first round with the topic "Does California need to ban resettlement in fire-prone areas?" and then competing in two more preliminary rounds, he found himself situated in a grueling semi-finals round before finally seeing his name dropped from the rafters on a finals posting! His final topic for the meet was "What viable approaches can the US pursue to help workers shift from fossil fuel employment to new industries?" In this final round with a panel of five judges, he walked away 5th place with ranks from the panel of 1, 4, 4, 5 and 5, besting 30 other competitors who began the meet with him in prelims on Friday night.
Clear Creek High School - January 24-25
Brook Speech & Debate is excited to announce four more state qualifiers who achieved this feat at Clear Creek High School this past weekend! The bulk of the team's wins came from varsity extemporaneous speakers Zaid Asad, Elaina Joseph, Emily Joseph, Khang Ngo and Kendrick Toennies who all placed in their final rounds. Wins in this round resulted in the latter four earning their second qualification which brings the team's total state qualification number to a total of 14 - once again best in CCISD for more than the tenth year running and brings Zaid one point closer to his state goal! Novice member Hammad Tariq also placed 3rd in the novice division of Extemporaneous Speaking.
Additional placements in the tournament included president Gregory Stuart and Anthony Van who placed 2nd and 11th overall in Congressional Debate. This placement for Gregory adds more points to his total and further solidifies his THREE state qualifications - one in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, one is Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking and his last in Student Congress. Gregory also placed 5th overall in Impromptu Speaking.
Novices at the meet also did well and many advanced to the semi-finals bracket in their various events. These accomplished speakers and debaters include Hammad Tariq, Abhi Kommireddy, Jackson Barnett and Sophia Merchant.
Additional placements in the tournament included president Gregory Stuart and Anthony Van who placed 2nd and 11th overall in Congressional Debate. This placement for Gregory adds more points to his total and further solidifies his THREE state qualifications - one in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking, one is Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking and his last in Student Congress. Gregory also placed 5th overall in Impromptu Speaking.
Novices at the meet also did well and many advanced to the semi-finals bracket in their various events. These accomplished speakers and debaters include Hammad Tariq, Abhi Kommireddy, Jackson Barnett and Sophia Merchant.
Alief Elsik Swing Tournament - January 31-February 1
As the Wolverine Debate Team nears the end of their yearly local schedule before they move on to state competition, this past weekend found a contingent both online and in person competing at Alief Elsik High School. Beginning on Thursday, the World Schools Debate team that consists of Khang Ngo, Kendrick Toennies, Victoria Constanza, Alim Merchant, and Emily Joseph performed in the online portion of the meet where they were able to secure Alim Merchant's state qualification by advancing to the octa-final bracket! This is Alim's first qual and the team's fifteenth of the season.
After the Saturday portion of the meet which was held in person on Saturday, senior Merab Saim was the team's big winner and sixteenth qualifier after she placed first and third in Original Oratory! And once again proving his state readiness, team president Gregory Stuart walked away with a first place finish in Impromptu Speaking as well as a 2nd place finish in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Fellow speaker Zaid Asad also fought his way to finals in the foreign division of this event where he placed 7th overall. Additional semi-finalists for the team included Kelyn Tran and Hammad Tariq.
After the Saturday portion of the meet which was held in person on Saturday, senior Merab Saim was the team's big winner and sixteenth qualifier after she placed first and third in Original Oratory! And once again proving his state readiness, team president Gregory Stuart walked away with a first place finish in Impromptu Speaking as well as a 2nd place finish in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking. Fellow speaker Zaid Asad also fought his way to finals in the foreign division of this event where he placed 7th overall. Additional semi-finalists for the team included Kelyn Tran and Hammad Tariq.
Bellaire High School - February 7-8
The weekend of February 7-8 found a small gathering of the Wolverine Speech & Debate team at Bellaire High School for their 69th annual tournament. At the end of day one, Claire Mayfield found herself in the top seven speakers in Prose Interpretation, making it to the final round. Also on Friday, team president and senior Gregory Stuart landed in the final round of Student Congress. It was the second day where further advancements and wins would be realized. After three grueling rounds of Original Oratory, members Kayanath Chowdhury and Eman Ahmed found themselves in semi-finals while Greg - after placing 9th overall in Congress found himself in finals for Domestic Extemp where he picked up more state points for his fourth place finish.
NSDA District at Clear Falls High School - February 20-22
Clear Brook speakers were out in force at Clear Falls High School this past weekend competing in their annual National Speech & Debate Association district meet which advances straight to the national meet in Iowa in June. After five grueling rounds with some of the best speakers across Houston's South District, team president Gregory Stuart found himself third overall in United States Extemporaneous Speaking, guaranteeing him a place at nationals! His fellow teammate and officer Emily Joseph ranked fourth overall, making her the first alternate.
Additionally in the International division, Elaina Joseph secured a third place finish, resulting in her attendance at nationals later this summer! Kendrick Toennies, a team junior fought his way to the semi-finals round where he became the fourth alternate for this division while Khang Ngo missed the final round by just one rank.
Additionally in the International division, Elaina Joseph secured a third place finish, resulting in her attendance at nationals later this summer! Kendrick Toennies, a team junior fought his way to the semi-finals round where he became the fourth alternate for this division while Khang Ngo missed the final round by just one rank.
