The day was November 22, 2013. Excitement and nerves were running high as the St. Philip the Apostle school students prepared for the winter Speech and Debate Tournament. There was much pacing, yelling, and jumping up and down as we waited anxiously for the first round to begin.

Spanning about 5 hours, the Speech and Debate Tournament was very fun and the students who participated did rather well. I would like to acknowledge all the students who placed right now, so let us begin. First off, in the debate category, we had 7th graders Amanda Hill and Ryan Gonzalez take 2nd place. In the poetry category, we had Harper LaCroix come in with 5th place. In storytelling, there was a tie for 4th place: Ashley Mesai and Grace Tighe. We also had Rory Burke come in with 1st Place! Finally, we had a plethora of students place in the Duo Interpretation category. Amanda Kuzma and Monica Dezern placed 4th. Paulina and Emily Alonso tied for 3rd with Katarina and Agnese.

Finally, Emma Abdala and Araceli Seager got 2nd place. There were many other falcons who participated in the Speech and Debate Tournament, and they all did very well, so I congratulate them. Please forgive me for probably botching up the spelling on some names, I tried my best to write down all the winners and cheer at the same time!

I would finally like to thank all the coaches, parents, and teachers who made this tournament happen. Without you, none of the students could have possibly done as well as they did. –

For more pleaes go to http://falconsflyer.org/1108/falconidae-news/speech-and-debate-tournament/#sthash.kBUKJj9P.dpuf