Hosted by the Gabrielino High School (GHS) Speech and Debate team, the Screamin’ Eagles Invitational took place for the 8th year on Oct. 15 at GHS. Through three rounds and a final in all high school speech and debate events offered in California, high school teams from around Los Angeles County competed fiercely for winning spots.

Any competitor would acknowledge the fact that a speech and debate competition is the culmination of long hours of hard work. Perseverance and extensive preparation are just the bare minimum for a competitor to have a successful day at a tournament. For the dedicated members of the Arcadia High School (AHS) Speech and Debate team, this was true once again as they put on yet another hugely victorious performance at the Screamin’ Eagles Invitational.

The day was off to a rocky start; competition commenced early in the morning, but heavy rains complicated the morning for competitors. However, students were excited to be together and compete as a team on the GHS campus.

Events during this competition in both Varsity and Novice Divisions, included Original Oratory, Informative, Original Advocacy, Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu, Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Original Prose and Poetry, Oratorical Interpretation and Duo. Each event is difficult in its own way, but AHS competitors did extraordinarily well in all of the events they were in. 

“Competing definitely went a lot better than many of us were expecting, as our competitors included many novices as well,” said sophomore Natalie Huang.

Novices are competitors in their first year of high school speech competition, and this group includes Huang herself. Generally, students new to Speech and Debate need time to adjust to the skills before they begin to perform their best in rounds. However, it would seem AHS’ novices adapted much more quickly; 3 novices from AHS placed in the Novice Impromptu event, with freshmen Tiffany Zhang and Jasmin Sivakumaran winning 1st place and 4th place, respectively.

At the end of the grueling morning-to-night day of competition, AHS had many other results to be proud of too. Juniors Minnoli Shukla and Euan Laru-An, both Varsity members, placed in Oratorical Interpretation and Dramatic Interpretation, respectively. 

“Minnoli and Euan’s speeches were very impressive to see in class, so knowing they placed was also great, and I’m happy for them!” said Huang.

Overall, AHS’ showing at the Screamin’ Eagles Invitational can be a point of pride for our school. We can be proud of their courage, creativity, and hard work toward preparing for this event. Besides great scoring, the AHS Speech and Debate team will surely grow and learn from this experience.

“I was so glad to have an outlet through my original oratory speech at Screamin’ Eagles,” stated Huang. “Since it was my first official speech tournament, I learned so much about the basics of writing my speech, and I got some great feedback for my presentation skills both in class and from the judges.”

Congratulations to Huang and the entire team, and best of luck at the next tournament!

Photo courtesy of AHS Speech and Debate