Senior Ronith Gouni, president of public forum debate, opens a MHS Speech and Debate letter. He is overjoyed to see his team has received a prestigious award.
In September, Speech and Debate was named as 1 of 200 clubs recognized by the National Speech and Debate Association for outstanding performance.
“It’s an honor to be recognized on the national level because I know all our members have worked really hard,” Gouni said.
The club consists of 90 ninety members, each specializing in a topic or policy coached by a varsity member. Freshmen enter the club as novices and are trained by varsity members until they move up. This camaraderie is important in broadening the team’s voice, Gouni said.
“It’s a really close-knit community. That really helps us be cohesive and perform well at tournaments,” Gouni said.
The club meets three times a week for practice debates and research.
“Just meetings alone are like four to five hours a week. And then a lot of members do outside work as well,” Gouni said.
Jatin Sridhar, senior and vice president of public forum debate, said the team’s hard work and dedication were what led to being recognized at a national level.
“We have a really good collection of people who are willing to put in a lot of work towards Speech and Debate,” Sridhar said. “It’s just coming consistently to practices, doing their part outside of practices and taking the time at home to be committed.”
Sridhar coaches debate over foreign and domestic policy. They discuss what government policy should be, and this month, their topic of debate is about military funding in the Arctic.
Sridhar looks forward to carrying out his senior season and leaving his mark on the program.
“I’ll continue to coach the novices and consistently go to meetings and be there when they need it,” Sridhar said. “I think we have a lot of really talented freshmen and sophomores. There’s a really strong future for the club, and I’m excited to see where it will go.”
Cate Sanazaro, language arts teacher and sponsor, is at the helm of the club. She said Speech and Debate receives the annual 200 Club award consistently, and she attributes the club’s tradition of success to varsity’s relationship with the novices.
“The mentors show them the ropes and get them excited,” Sanazaro said. “We have a lot of longevity. Nearly everybody who joins stays with it.”
Sanazaro said seven students qualified for Nationals in the 2022-23 school year and will continue to lead her students to recognition.
“The state does a really good job of recognizing schools,” Sanazaro said. “It’s great that they do that for the kids.”
