|
Welcome to Westwood Debate and Speech Club |
|
Westwood High School Speech and Debate has long been a part of school life and offers events in Lincoln Douglas Debate, Policy Debate , Extemporaneous Speaking , and Original Oratory , as well as other events. The team went through a particularly strong period in the late 1990s through early 2000s when several students dominated the national LD circuit. Three students repeatedly qualified and placed at the Tournament of Champions and took finishing places at significant national tournaments. The Westwood Policy Debate team qualified the maximum of two teams for the 2007 UIL State Tournament. The teams placed 3rd and 1st in the 5A league. In 2008, the Westwood Policy Debate team once again qualified the maximum two teams for the UIL State Tournament. Westwood once again won first place to complete the back to back championships. Naveen Mehta, Westwood senior, won the UIL 5A State Championship in Lincoln Douglas debate. With Naveen's victory and the policy debate team's first placing in March Westwood also won the UIL 5A State Sweepstakes award for the top speech and debate high school for a second year in a row. Westwood is actively involved in the TFA (the Texas Forensics Association) where participants compete against debaters from other schools. The tournaments that Westwood attends attract quality competition. Many students have received multiple awards through success at the tournaments, including qualification to attend the most prestigious national tournament, the Tournament of Champions, in 05-06 for CX debate. Other schools in the area include McNeil, Akins, Round Rock, LBJ, and Stony Point. |
|
 | Alex Pritchard, Director of Forensics, Westwood High School Alex's record speaks for itself. He is among the top two or three most successful high school coaches. His teams have won two NFL National Championships. His teams have placed first at every major invitational in the United States, including the Heart of Texas Invitational at the St. Mark's School of Texas, the National Invitational at Harvard University, the Barkley Forum for High Schools at Emory University, and the Southern Bell Forum at Montgomery Bell Academy . Alex coached the winners of the 2000 edition of the prestigious Tournament of Champions (TOC) at the University of Kentucky, as well as the 2000 Glenbrooks Debate Tournament. He also has three runner-up finishes at the TOC. His teams have won the prestigious Texas Forensic Association State tournament six times. Alex has worked at the Zarefsky scholars for juniors and sophomores, the Coon Hardy institute, the NHSI institute, and the Iowa institute just to name a few. Alex has been inducted into the Tournament of Champions Hall of Fame and holds the honor of being a Key Coach at the Barkley Forum |  | Aneal Tenjarla, Staff Aneal graduated from Westwood High in 2007. While at Westwood High, he was a policy debater and he participated in all major debate tournaments. Since graduating from Westwood High, he has volunteered considerable time judging Policy Debaters in TFA and UIL competitions. Aneal is currently a junior at University of Texas at Austin. Aneal is Vice President of the national service organization, Beta Kappa Gamma, through which he was able to raise over $5,000 for the Austin Children's Shelter and the Boys and Girls Club in downtown Austin. Aneal spent his last summer in Atlanta, Georgia as a Financial Analyst with IBM. He is on track to graduate in 2010 with a degree in Corporate Finance. |  | Michael Hart, Staff Michael Hart graduated from Westwood High in 2007. At Westwood, Michael was a policy debater for three years. Michael is currently a sophomore at Trinity College, San Antonio. He is on track to graduate in 2012 with a degree in History and Masters in Education. For past two years, Michael has worked at the Championship Debate Group three week institute. |
|
|
|