The Deering High School Debate team continued its amazing run of successes this school year, with big wins at the Maine Forensic Association State Championship Tournament at Lewiston High School on Jan. 25. Also, four team members are now headed to the nationals in June!
Following the Jan. 25 accomplishment, the team went on to the national qualifier tournaments in February, where four team members qualified to go to Albuquerque in June for the National Speech and Debate Association national tournament. Those four are seniors Glynis O'Meara, Aidan Reid, Conrad Gabriel and Selam Desta.
At the Jan. 25 event, the whole team won the debate sportsmanship award and placed third for debate overall, said team coach and DHS math teacher Brian Dodge. The team also racked up a number of paired team awards.
The two-person team of seniors Conrad Gabriel and Selam Desta won the Varsity Public Forum, becoming State Champions. The team of seniors Glynis O'Meara and Aidan Reid were right on their heels and became runners up. In addition, the team of 11th-graders Aidan Blum-Levine and Linh Nguyen finished fifth in Varsity Public Forum.
“I am profoundly proud of the team and their accomplishments this year!” Dodge said.
The DHS Debate Team also had numerous wins at tournaments on Nov. 9, Nov. 23 and Dec. 7. Read more about those wins HERE.
Next is the National Speech and Debate Association tournament. "There are many different events that will be taking place, but our students will be four of a five-person "World Schools" team," Dodge said. "Last year, our students finished 19th in the country in this same event. I'm excited to see what will happen in June!"
