Newtown High School Blog

Members of the Newtown High School Debate Team attended the Princeton Invitational Debate Tournament from December 4 – December 6, 2009, where they competed against top schools from 21 states. Special commendation goes to Linda He for competing in her first major tournament, and Nicole Vournazos for being the first member of the Newtown team to compete in Original Oratory, a speech event where she delivered a ten minute oration of her own creation. Congratulations to Justin Villamil for a 5-2 record during preliminaries in Varsity Lincoln Douglas debate and reaching the elimination rounds, where he lost on a closely contested divided ballot.

What do Adam Sandler, Bill Clinton, Bruce Springsteen, Jane Pauley, Brad Pitt, and Hillary Clinton have in common? They were all debaters.

The Newtown High School Speech and Debate Club offers you the opportunity learn important life skills, such as public speaking, thinking on your feet, and critical analysis. It offers opportunities for local, state, and national recognition. Mostly, it offers you the chance to meet and hang out with articulate and opinionated people. If you are interested, stop by Room P007 on Wednesday afternoons or come see Mr. Thomas.

On Saturday, March 6th, six members of the  Newtown High School Debate Team travelled to San Francisco, California to participate in the Harker Invitational.  Hundreds of  students from all over the country participated in both Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas styles of debate.  Special congratulations go out to seniors, Biota Hung and Jessica Thomas, who  finished in 5th place in Public Forum debate.

Over the February break, 26 members of the Newtown High School Debate Team travelled to Cambridge, MA. to compete in the Harvard National Speech and Debate Tournament. Over 4000 students from 42 states participated in this event. Special congratulations go out the our varsity captains, Paul Garofalo and Mark Fernandes, who dominated the field in the preliminary rounds by earning 5 -1 records. Their performance in the prelims earned them a spot in the final elimination rounds where they earned awards for finishing in the top 30. These students will finish their season next week when they travel to Palo Alto, CA to compete at the Harker Invitational.

This past weekend, 13 members of the Newtown High School Debate Team competed at the Columbia University National Debate Tournament in New York City. Competitors from 26 different states competed in various speech and debate events. Newtown High School finished in 3rd place in Varsity Lincoln Douglas Debate (VLD). This was Newtown’s best finish at a national tournament since we garnered a 3rd place finish at the 2007 Princeton Invitational. Read the rest of this entry »

This past weekend (October 11, 2008), Newtown High School participated in the Dr. Robert Kaiser National Invitational Debate Tournament in Monticello, NY.  Twenty-five members of the NHS Debate Team took part.  Seniors Biota Hung and Quinlan Mitchell made it to the final round before losing to the Bronx High School of Science, a perennial national powerhouse.  Akshay Agashe, a consistent top performer in Varsity Debate and runner up at the 2007 Connecticut State Debate Championships, qualified for the elimination rounds before being beaten by another Bronx Science team in the double octofinal round of the tournament.  Congratulations, Debate Team!