This is the 2011-2012 website of the PVPHS Speech and Debate Team!

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School's forensics program contains 68 active members who compete both locally and across the nation. This year, our itinerary includes invitationals in states such as Texas, New York, Maryland, Kentucky, and Illinois. In our league (WBFL), we excel as #1, with the most qualified for the state competition in both individual and debate events.

Just last year, we claimed an octafinalist and a double-octafinalist in the Tournament of Champions with two sophomores, and one of our members' Original Prose and Poetry ranked 5th in the state, not to mention countless invitationals ranked in and even won. Only greater heights await us in the upcoming season of September 2011-April 2012.

Forensics at Peninsula is now an English elective in which students recieve A-F grades based on criteria for involvement and effort (See the handbook for more details.) We meet Tuesday and Thursday 3:30-5:30 PM every week. Want to be a part of the fun?

Members, be sure to visit the all-new, interactive funsite to discuss current topics, rant, fangirl, and chill!

We'd like to thank Mr. Phil Pitchford for his generous donation, as well as:

Our gratitude also extends to Ms. Cynthia Shi for writing the vast majority of this website's initial coding and to Mr. Janitha Karunaratne for always making available his computer expertise.

If you don't seem to have access to the funsite or have a question/suggest/comment about the website, feel free to email me directly and I, Samantha Wathugala, will try to rectify your problem.

Final Updates 5.15.12

It's been fun, panthers; but as always, at the end of the year, the site must move on. As such, enjoy this last news post from me, Samantha Wathugala, since next year we'll be welcoming James Zhang as your 2012-2013 "Internet Relations." I can't tell you what the site at this domain will look like next year, but I trust that James' take on the internet will be sufficiently awesome.

Meanwhile, I made some schedule updates June 6th, which I did not mention in the last post for fear of its sheer length overwhelming you poor readers and eating your souls. Now, interviews, showcase, and banquet are all displayed as the only non-crossed out items on the list. Seeing as the strikeouts were really just for clarity, I think that for now, I'll leave those last dates unstricken. This website could be like a time capsule, capturing the moment of this post, of the updates of nine days ago, of the description of our team nine months ago...

For a final reflection on this year's performance, I'd like to quote Ms. Weiss: "The fact that you've done really good makes me look really good." Thanks for giving me a lot to type. :)

So, check that all out, continue to read your email, and with any luck I'll be seeing y'all in S&D next year.

Valete pro tempore! Webmaster out.

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Three Bears 5.6.12

The sore throats, spit, and tears of the year have finally culminated in two of the year's last tournaments: State and TOC. If you're not a fan of abbreviations, that means the 2012 California High School Speech Association State Tournament and the National Tournament of Champions. And, just for fun, they were both in the same weekend.

In the latter, two of our favorite LDers, Henry Zhang and Daniel Tartakovsky, did what they do best and, like so much else, they did it together. And by "it," I mean that they both made it to octofinals in the highest Lincoln Douglas tournament in the nation! Holla. The two also earned Speaker Awards for their insane fluency.

In the former tournament, the qualifiers of the two Qualifying Tournaments back in March (and a few lucky alternates) trooped up to the strange land of NorCal, where five of our number have placed out of not only the best of the state but also all of the speakers and debaters in California who ever tried to even make it to that prestigious tournament. As Elle Woods would say, "Snaps!" ...And she would probably also encourage you to check out the aftermath page so you can drool at their names.

Additionally, this tournament was the most fun debate trip according to OA qualifier Zohair Lalani and the best run state tournament that TI & Parli qualifier Claire Crossman has ever been to, since she has indeed been to far too many. Thirdly and finally, even the bus our team was lucky enough to get very familiar with was driven by, according to DI qualifier Natalie Edelstein, a most exceptional driver.

Some of our number, in preparation for the State Tournament, went to the Brushke Invitational at CSU Fullerton, making this the first and possibly last time we ventured to this particular tournament. They did quite well and reaped some cups which were, in fact, actual cups in some cases. Go ahead and scroll down past the TOC and State results to see the details of a tournament which, though now much overshadowed by the two giants above it, is solid fare for an Invitational tournament.

One more thing: Daniel Tartakovsky is an Academic All-American! Who knew?

Now here's a nice picture after so many words:

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