Convent of the Sacred Heart (CSH) will host more than 300 student debaters on Saturday, February 2 for a regional speech and debate tournament on the school campus at 1177 King Street, Greenwich. The event will begin at 10 a.m. with preliminary rounds leading to final awards that will be presented at 5:30 p.m. in the Lennie and John de Csepel Theater.
The event is sponsored by the New York Catholic Forensic League of which Convent of the Sacred Heart is a member school. Three hundred students and 100 adults (judges, coaches and other volunteers) will be on the CSH campus for the tournament. “We are grateful to so many people who will be on hand to help ensure the day's success,” said Paul Grisanti, CSH history teacher and the moderator for the school’s speech and debate team.
Students will compete in the following categories: Extemporaneous Speaking, Declamation, Dramatic Interpretation, Original Oratory, Duo Interpretation, and Oral Interpretation of Literature.
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Preliminary rounds begin at 10 a.m. and will continue until 1 p.m. Finals rounds will begin at 3 p.m. The tournament will make use of the school’s two dining rooms for lunch, the theater and many classrooms in the Upper School.
Visitors are welcome to observe preliminary and/or final rounds and the closing ceremony at 5:30 p.m. in the theater. Trophies will be awarded to eight finalists in each event. Team trophies will be awarded to the top seven schools.
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The schools that will participate in this event include Iona Preparatory School from New Rochelle, NY; Regis High School, Loyola High School, Stuyvesant High School and Covent of the Sacred Heart (Manhattan) from New York City; and Scarsdale High School from Scarsdale, NY, in addition to approximately 15 other schools from the New York Catholic Forensic League, www.NYCFL.org.
Convent of the Sacred Heart is the only Connecticut team in the league. They will be led by Coach Ashley Brown, assistant coach Paul Grisanti and team captains Alexa de Alessandrini, Nora Henrie, Morgan Kennedy, Stephanie Mellert, and Jane Mikus.
Speech and debate is an extracurricular activity and it has produced many passionate debaters and speakers from Sacred Heart, who have gone on to win national awards and to participate on college teams.
