Thousands of competitors across California compete in Speech and Debate tournaments, but only a select few qualify for the California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) State Championship. On Apr. 12, CHSSA held their 65th State Championship, with 14 members of the Arcadia High School (AHS) Speech and Debate team in attendance.

AHS competitors entered in a variety of events, ranging from Duo Interpretation to Parliamentary Debate. Each event requires a high level of skill, especially when competing against the best in California. Junior Ashley Lim ended up being an Octofinalist in Lincoln Douglas Debate; senior Shirlyn Huang earned 5th place in Dramatic Interpretation; junior Evelyn Tsoi was 3rd place in U.S. Extemporaneous, and junior Michelle Fan earned 1st place in Impromptu.

Fan, a long established Speech and Debater, reflected on her win, “I came into the weekend with no expectations of winning the entire event, but I’m really happy to see that hard work has paid off. The level of competition was extremely hard, and I went against many really talented competitors.”

Photo courtesy of Speech and Debate