Members of Lawrence Free State High School’s speech and forensics team are heading to national tournaments once again. The team will also be looking to retain its state title next month as well.
Kelly Thompson, Free State’s speech and debate coach, recently told the Journal-World in an email that the team’s students qualified for 17 events at the 2021 National Individual Events Tournament of Champions. The students qualified for the tournament through their individual performances at invitational tournaments throughout the season. The event will be May 4-8.
Thompson said that this year’s number of events was the most in school history, surpassing the previous record of 14 in 2019.
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From left, Chelmsford H.S. Speech and Debate Coach Peter Zopes, sophomore Prateek Motagi, sophomore Arjun Lingala, sophomore Divya Sambasivan, junior Vishant Raajkumar, sophomore Avaneesh Mallela and sophomore Rishi Ajmera. (Chris O Donnell, courtesy)
CHELMSFORD, MA A Chelmsford High School team is advancing to compete in the Massachusetts Speech and Debate League finals April 10 and 11. They ve also qualified for the renowned UK Tournament of Champions and the prestigious NCFL Grand National.
The students have taken part in nearly two dozen debates and have had more practice than usual, thanks, in part, to how the debates have adapted to an online environment amid the pandemic.