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VHS To Host State
Qualifying Tournament
Some of the best and brightest young minds in Northeast Ohio will be coming to Vermilion this weekend as Vermilion High School hosts the Cleveland District High School Speech & Debate state qualifying tournament.
Speech and Debate provides students the opportunity to develop self-confidence and public speaking skills while also learning about organization, humility and perseverance. Competition is in Speech, Interpretation and Debate. In the Speech portion, participants speak on current events, develop and perform a speech based upon a personal interest or recreate a famous speech. Interp participants perform humorous or dramatic pieces with prose or poetry or recreate a play with a partner. In Debate there is Policy Debate, which usually focuses on current governmental social policies, Public Forum Debate, which grapples with current events and Lincoln Douglas Debate, which addresses social values. Congress participants recreate a legislative body’s actions and speeches.
Last year was one of the best for the VHS team with 4 students placing 8th, 9th, 10th and 12th in the state semifinals. At the recent Berea Grindstone Invitational, the VHS team took 3rd place (out of 30 schools). Competitors included students from Gilmour Academy, Rocky River, St. Ignatius, University School, Hathaway Brown & Laurel School. Team officers are Jacob Negrey, President, Michelle Morris, VP, Pete Cebull, Treasurer and RJ Ingram, Secretary. Ryan Schreiner is Historian and the Debate Captain is Melissa Kent.
The VHS Debate Coach is Devon Snook, a Vermilion High School math teacher. He recently replaced Mike Amstutz who created the program and coached for 21 years. Devon grew up in the world of speech and debate. For 25 years, his father was the head coach at Crestwood High School. Devon participated on the Kenston High School team and found that speech made him a more confident, better speaker and gave him the mental fortitude to become a teacher. “I coach to ‘pay it forward’, Snook said. “Speech and Debate isn’t about winning trophies and awards, but making our students better citizens and members of the community. It’s an opportunity for students to express themselves in a safe and accepting environment while learning how to deal with both success and failure.”
The next stop for our competitors after the Vermilion qualifying tournament is Medina High School where they will compete against students from Youngstown, Canton, Akron, Greater Miami Valley and Toledo. After that the state tournament and then…the sky’s the limit.
2/31/08
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