CHS Speech and Debate Team News

CHS Speech and Debate Team Member Wins A Spot at the Prestigious National Speech and Debate Tournament in Dallas, Texas

Chelmsford, MA, February 2, 2015

On January 30 and 31, The New England Chapter of the Nation Speech and Debate Association held its qualifying tournament at Newton South High School in order to select the top students to represent Massachusetts and New Hampshire at the National Tournament, held in Dallas, TX in June.

Senior Erin Phillips was among 2 other students selected from the district to represent the area in Dramatic Interpretation. This tournament consists of the best students from all the member schools vying for placement at this prestigious capstone tournament. Manasi Danke, Junior, also represented Chelmsford High School at the tournament with her Original Oratory speech. She made an impressive showing, making it through to the Semi-finals. On February 7, both students, along with several other members of the CHS team, will compete for a position in the National Catholic League’s Tournament to be held in May in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Erin Phillips has traveled to a number of large national tournaments this year beginning with Yale in September where she semi-finaled in both Oral Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation. In November, she traveled to St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where she placed 2nd in Oral Interpretation, competing with roughly 79 other top students from all over the country. In December Erin competed at the Patriot Games Tournament held at George Mason University, one of the largest Speech and Debate Tournaments in the country. There she came in 3rd in the prestigious Round Robin competition, competing with 6, top-level, hand selected students from all over the nation. Each student went through a rigorous application process before being accepted to participate in this portion of the competition. In the larger general tournament, she quarter finaled in Poetry Reading and Original Oratory and semi-finaled in Prose Reading. Erin currently is the top ranked female in Massachusetts according to the National Speech and Debate Association and ranks 9th overall in the state.

The National Speech & Debate Tournament is the largest academic competition for middle school and high school students in the world. To attend nationals, students must place among the top competitors at one of 110 district tournaments. The National Speech & Debate Association has run the National Debate & Speech Tournament continuously since 1931 (except for the World War II years. Today, more than 3,300 high school students converge to compete in a week-long competition to determine the most prestigious title in high school academics: National Champion. More information on the tournament can be found at:http://www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

For more information contact:

Chelmsford High School

Peter Zopes, CHS Speech and Debate Coach.

zopesp@chelmsford.k12.ma.us