After an exciting season, the 'Iolani Speech and Debate Team culminated its 2007-08 Hawaii Speech League Season with a bang. Now, for several team members, it's on to the National Forensic League Championship in Las Vegas this June.
The state tournament for debate was held on Thursday and Friday, April 9 and 10, at McKinley High School, and the state tournament for speech was held at Punahou School on Saturday, April 12. Debaters and speakers hailing from schools across the islands travelled to compete at this prestigious tournament. To conclude the weekend, all of the students attended a banquet at the Ala Moana Hotel on April 12 for the awards ceremony.
`Iolani had an impressive performance, taking the Original Events Trophy, the Debate Cup, the State Championship Trophy, the National Forensic League trophy, and the National Forensic League NFL points plaque.
The following students were also recognized for individual honors:
Original Oratory
Jensen Wong ’10- 4th place
Impromptu Speaking
Si Won Oak ’08- 4th Place
United States Extemporaneous Speaking
Jesse Franklin-Murdock ’10- 3rd place
International Extemporaneous Speaking
Katarina Hughes ’09- 1st place
Lauren Ige ’08- 2nd place
David Martorana ’09- 4th place
Public Forum Debate
Bhasha Chakrabarti ’09 and Sean Yancey ’09- 1st place
Championship Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Jesse Franklin-Murdock ’10- 1st place
Katarina Hughes ’09- 3rd place
Junior Varsity Policy Debate
Thuy Ne Le ’11 and Shayne Rasay ’11- 2nd place
Varsity Policy Debate
David Martorana ’09 and Jackie Mosteller ’10- 1st place
Alexa Hettwer ’09 and Julia Zhang ’09- 3rd Place
Si Won Oak ’08 was also recognized as one of only a few students to qualify in three events.
For their efforts, David and Jackie, Bhasha and Sean, Jesse, and Katarina qualified for the national tournament in June in Las Vegas and have earned the honor of representing 'Iolani and Hawaii on the national stage.
