Wooster High School

SPEECH Debate&

STATE CHAMPIONS2001, 2002, 2006, 2015

2014-2015 !WHS Speech & Debate Yearbook!!

THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

Coaches

LEFT TO RIGHT

SEATED

PHIL KLEIN, BILL FRANCK, ANDREW WOLF, DWAINE HEMPHILL

HOLLY CUSTER

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2013-14“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOST ISSUE: 1 NATIONALS

“We were just four,” says Coach Franck, “but we made our presence known at this year’s championship tournament in Kansas. Our Policy Debaters made it through 10 rounds and finished in the top 39 in the nation and our Congressional Debaters, Taylor and David, both made it to the final round and finished 8th and 13th respectively.”

For Junior Ben Snoddy, this was his second consecutive national tournament and as he puts it, “this year I had a great expe r i ence a t Nationals. I was amazed that we had it in us to finish in the top 39 teams in the nation. This tournament helped me realize my potential as a debater, and I will use it as motivation to continue doing well next year and hopefully make it even father in the national tournament.”

His partner, three year qualifier, Joseph Gorman adds, “it really is surreal to look back and realize my debate career is over. I couldn't have asked for a better way to go out. This was a great national tournament and I'm proud to be a part of our team's success this year. The highlights of the trip were:

1. Watching Mr. Franck try to steal my Oreos and instead spill his soda on my tie.

2. Missing the turn into Wooster after a 14 hour drive.

3. Eating at Oklahoma Joe's, which has to be the best gas station food ever.

4. Receiving endless amounts of snark from "Saucy Phil" Klein.

5. Emptying a cumulative half-can of air freshener onto Ben to

keep our room smelling reasonably fresh. 6. Catching up with old friends from camp (and watching one of them w i n p o l i c y t o p speaker).

7. Our spec tacu lar rendition of the alma

mater. “There’s really no way

to explain just how fun this tournament was for the kids and

coaches,”adds Coach Franck. “We made the decision to drive to Kansas, Coach Hemphill treated the team to a Cardinals ball game in St. Louis and from there we kept making memories. I’m so happy we were able to give these students such a memorable experience and look forward to trying to exceed this year’s tournament in the year’s to come. This was a great group and we have plenty more great students who deserve the opportunity to have this kind of finish to their high school speech career.”

Wooster’s Four Debaters Claim School of Excellence Award

Our 64th National Attendance

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ride Joseph Gorman and Ben Snoddy - 10th Round

10th Round / Top 39 in Nation) !Taylor Bennington (Congressional Debate - House) Final Round / Top 14 in Nation (Auto Qualifier for 2015 Nationals) !

David Burnett (Congressional Debate - House) Final Round / Top 14 in Nation (Auto Qualifier for 2015 Nationals)

!Team Recognition

School of EXCELLENCE in

debate

(Top 20 in Debate in the

Nation)

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EVENTS DID YOU It has been more than a decade

(2002) Since Wooster has advanced students to the final round of Congressional Debate. !

This is the second consecutive year that Wooster has been awarded a team award in Debate at the National Tournament.

It was a grueling 4 days of competition but by week’s end, Taylor and David found themselves in the final round of debate, chasing their goal to finish in the top fourteen and auto-qualify. The final round did not go as the two had hoped but that did little to deter them from finding success.

“It's hard to say just how much of an impact this week has been on me,” says Taylor Bennington. “I can remember very clearly two years ago sitting as a young freshman at the nat ional tournament thinking to myself: ‘You are never going to be able to make it to the final round, let alone be in the top 8 and auto qualify’. This thought was re-affirmed, when I did not qualify to nationals the following year. But now, two years later, I can say with both pride and humility that I have successfully completed two goals that I never thought I would be able to achieve.” Taylor adds, “now, as an automatic qualifier, I can focus my sole attention on getting more individual competitors qualified in both the house and senate next spring, as well as serving as a ‘pusher’ rather than the ‘pushee’. This can be very beneficial to our squad, and team!”

For David Burnett, this was his third consecutive national tournament. David says, “this tournament meant more to me than trophies, awards, or auto-qualification. The memories I

made at this year's nationals will live on forever. I was delighted to be in the

great company of three great friends and three great coaches.

The camaraderie of this team is amazing. There was no

greater way to end my time in Speech and Debate t h a n a t t h e 2 0 1 4 H e a r t l a n d P r i d e Nationals.” When asked about the compe t i t i on a t t h i s y e a r ’ s n a t i o n a l t o u r n a m e n t , D a v i d responded, “this was by

far the toughest group of compe t i t o r s I ' ve ever

competed against. The styles and approaches were unique

and challenging to deal with, but I became a better debater because

of it. I've never seen so many great debaters before. I made several new friends

and was able to reunite with good pals from previous national tournaments. The tournament was in the perfect location, as we had a five minute journey by elevator and escalator to our chambers. I could not have asked for a better experience!”

Annual Team Kickoff Picnic August 10 - 4:00 pm !!Team Tryouts will be held

August 25-27. Team Roster Posting will be

August 29

David and Taylor Auto-qualify for 2015 Nationals in Dallas

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2014-15Stewards of excellence for more than a century

ISSUE: 1 SEPTEMBER 15

It is evident that the varsity members are eagerly awaiting the start of the season. The team is busy finding material, cutting pieces, and putting what they learned at speech and debate camp to the test.

Five members (Matt Friedhoff, Killian McNeely, Paige Clayton, Mary Grace Gorman and Samantha Brunn) made the journey to North Carolina because they simply couldn’t wait for the season to begin in Ohio. “These students have really dedicated themselves to this season,” remarks Coach Franck. “Most have gone to camp to prepare and hone their skills and they are all c o m m i t t e d t o making a positive impact. I know they are excited and want to start the year off on a positive note.”

Students spent Friday making last minute adjustments before the start of the tournament. “We had time to visit the Wake Forest Campus,” says Samantha Brunn. “It kinda helped us relax as Mr. Franck showed us where we could expect

our rounds to be. It was also nice to just take a moment to get to know the campus layout.”

“I think we were all a little anxious,” adds Mary Grace. “Wake combines international and domestic extemp so we had to prepare for both. Despite the workload, I think we did a good job preparing. We’re a diverse assortment of individuals but we bonded on this trip.”

“They all conducted themselves like s ea soned na t i ona l c i r c u i t

competitors,” beams Mr. Franck. “It is really nice

to see just how easily this group seemed to adjust to the different style of tournament. I t was like they had c o m e h e r e before.” “Coming to

E a r l y B i r d tournament at Wake

Forest University was an incredible way to prepare for

the regular season,” says Matt Friedhoff. “I really enjoyed having the opportunity to test myself against other competitors on the national circuit. It was a remarkably valuable experience.”

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Wooster Generals Attend Early Bird at Wake Forest University

Our 104

th season

The “Early Birds” took time for a picnic dinner and

round of corn hole at the fabled home of Mr. Franck’s mother.

Over the mountains and through the woods to Momma Franck’s house we go…HIGHLIGHTS

Finalist (1st place) - Matt Friedhoff (DI) Semi finalist - Paige Clayton (EXT) Quarter finalist - Mary Grace Gorman (EXT) !

TWOOSTER

2014-­2015  Team  Roster    

United  States  Extemp  Killian  McNeely*  

Mary  Grace  Gorman+  Asvin  Gireesh  Jessica  Ezeji  

Prose  Poetry  Alex  Hasapis*    Esther  Hart  

Valerie  Anderson  Heidi  Ebin  Jon  Michel  

Policy  Debate  Ben  Snoddy*/Gaelan  Gatz  

Brooke  Hemphill+/Liz  Keller  Jared  Cassarly/Lee  Morris  

James  Neilson/Estelle  Shaya  John  Li  

International  Extemp  Paige  Clayton*  

Shreya  Gurumurthy  Samantha  Brunn  Jess  Lyons+  

Humorous  Interpretation  Jack  Reynolds*  

DJ  Petika  Polly  Michel  Will  Gastier  Evan  Doan  

Lincoln-­Douglas  Debate  Peter  Gooch*  

Brianna  Schmidt+  Reis  Rising  Jeremy  Lun  

Original  Oratory  Grace  Cheng*  Pierre  Paul  Rachel  Wood  Leah  Sim  

Dramatic  Interpretation  Matt  Friedhoff+  

Nick  Lee*  Taylor  Mills  

Isabelle  Cannon  Corbin  Lanker  

Public  Forum  Debate  Patrick  Carmel/Eric  Belcik*  Han  Mahle/Kenny  Kalikasingh  A.  Thompson/D.  Kardulias  

Scot  Neilson/Nicholas  Cosmo  

Oratorical  Interpretation  Alli  Wigham*  Drew  Arbogast  Sarah  Hopkins  Lexi  Snoddy  

   

Expository  Speaking  Grace  Comley*  

Sarah  Ruth  McConeghy  Evan  Rice  

   

Duo  Interpretation  Zack  Buchholz/Tom  Myers*  Scott  &  Storm  Nicholson  

Erin  O’Donnell  &  Matt  Lorentz          

 *Division  Captain  +Team  Officer      .  

Congressional  Debate  Taylor  Bennington+  

Katie  Mount*  Nate  Steiner  Jessie  Ballow  Ben  Carmel  Ryan  Miller  

2014 - 2015 Members

THE TEAMMEET

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DID YOU KNOW? !DID YOU KNOW? !

16 SEP - EXECUTIVE PARENTS MTG 7-9pm (meeting room - HS) 18 SEP - PARENT ORIENTATION MTG 7-9pm (library - HS) 07 OCT - EXECUTIVE PARENTS MTG 7-9pm (meeting room - HS) 11 OCT - HOMECOMING DANCE 8-11pm 16 OCT - MEET-THE-TEAM NIGHT 7-9pm (LGIR and library)

That the WHS team officially went paperless in 2013. Since then, scientists have found that 74% of the Brazilian Rain Forest has regrown and global warming has begun to reverse itself. When asked about this monumental shift in the world’s environment, Holly Custer replied, “Oh, I’m sure that’s the case, and I have a copy of Dwaine Hemphill’s performance on the Young and the Restless if you believe any of this tripe.” All kidding aside, the shift has not been the easiest of transitions, but it has made a big difference in how the team operates and the overall efficiency of our program.

“We had a great group of students tryout this fall and

I’m excited to see how this year’s team will perform.”-Coach Franck .

This year’s team will be anchored by 23 SEASONED seniors. Besides benefitting from senior leadership in all but one category, the team is also poised to achieve recognition from the NSDA as a 300-Club charter early this season. The Juniors, Sophomores and Freshmen are all close in numbers at 14, 16 and 14 respectively. “This is a good indicator that Wooster forensics will continue to compete at the highest level after our seniors graduate,” says Coach Phil Klein. “The big task this year will be preparing the younger students to take more of a leadership role in preparation for the void losing so many seniors will undoubtedly create.

34%

21%

24%

21%

Freshmen Sophomores JuniorsSeniors

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2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 2 OCTOBER 13

Take a cantankerous chaperone who smells a bit like prunes (P. Klein) a crazed old bird (Franck) and a group of ‘scouts’ eager to earn their dance badges and you have this year’s homecoming in a nutshell.

This year the dance featured

a 19-person swing band called Swingtime. Students were treated to live music. As a special treat, fellow classmate Cody Smith accompanied the band and assumed the role of lead vocalist at one point during the evening.” !

“It certainly wasn’t the no r ma l s h i nd ig ,” say s someone who’d rather not be identified at this time. “The dance turned out to be a humdinger of a foot stomp as our kids ‘boogalooed’ the night away. I couldn’t be any prouder of how the students represented our school.” !

There were plenty of unknowns going into the evening. Would the students respond well to a big band for homecoming? Would another swing dance take away from other dances later in the year?

“We knew we wanted to change the culture of this dance and give the students an opportunity to have an enjoyable evening that did not turn into anything negative for them,

the parents or the administration,” explains coach Franck. “Changes

like this are difficult to ‘sell’ to all the stakeholders. We

asked our team to promote this dance and keep a positive outlook on what we were do ing. We needed to find something new. Above a l l , we wanted to be part of the positive change here at

Wooster and this dance was a perfect event for our

program to promote this school-wide initiative.” !

“The decorations weren’t as nice as Prom and the band took some

long pauses between breaks but I think everyone still enjoyed the dance,” says Mary Grace Gorman. !

“I am very pleased with how this turned out and more importantly, I think we learned a ton about how we can improve on what we started this year.

Big “UPs” for This Year’s Dance

Homecoming

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Have you contacted your judge coordinator? !

OCT 18 •Carrollton Novice •NYC Invitational •John Carroll PDQ !

OCT 23 Meet-the-Team Night OCT 25 GlenOak Novice Tourney

We are fortunate to have an experienced group of parents who have generously volunteered to help coordinate judges for the upcoming season. If you have not yet done so, please contact the judge coordinator for the event(s) that you are interested in judging -or- curious about learning how to judge: !

SPEECH - Joanne Clayton !POLICY - Mary Sue Kaliszewski !PF/LD - Anne Nurse !CONGRESS - Mark Gooch

The question is not "can you fill the shoes of those who have stood here before you?". The question is "can you walk in shoes left for

you by those before you?” It is one thing to follow a guide but something entirely different to become the guide.

Our New Members ! The Wooster Speech and Debate team filled needs in every event this year with the exception of United States and

International Extemporaneous Speaking. “We are full in every event,” comments Mr. Franck. “Our new members not only fill our needs at the Freshman level but we were also able to fill holes from last year with Sophomores and Juniors.” !

“These kids are all great,” adds Coach Klein. I’m hoping they all love their events as much as I enjoy working with them because this is a fun group who fit in well with the team members we have returning. I’m seeing a ton of potential in this group. They are going to be good!” !

Holly Custer can hardly contain her joy. “We have a full group of Prose Poetry, Dramatic Interpretation and we have a new Freshman Duo Interpretation team. I am so excited to see how they handle their first tournament.”

Valerie Anderson Heidi Ebin Jon Michel Sarah Ruth McConeghy

Taylor Mills Isabelle Cannon Corbin Lanker

Leah SimJames Nielson / Estelle Shaya

Erin O’Donnell & Matt Lorentz

Nicholas Cosmo / Scot Nielson

Lexi Snoddy Ben Carmel Ryan Miller Reis RisingJeremy Lun

Evan DoanM

eet the Novices

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2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 3 OCTOBER 20

Th i s weekend tu rned ou t to be considerably more complicated than in year’s past. As the Novices got their first taste of competition at the Todd Casper Memorial Novice Tournament at Carrollton High School, the Policy Debate squad found themselves in the first PDQ bout of the year. Meanwhile, the Public-Forum teams o f B e l c i k / C a r m e l a n d Kardul ias/Thompson along with C o n g re s s i o n a l D e b a t e r , Ta y l o r Bennington, battled in the 41st Annual New York City Invitational.

“This was a wicked weekend,” say Coach Franck. “We had kids competing all over the place. As coaches it’s a little nerve wracking when you know the kids are competing and you can’t be there for all of them.”

In addition to the three competitions, parents and varsity students were busy finishing up Cow Chip sales at Buehler’s. “It’s pretty amazing how much we were able to accomplish this weekend,” says Coach Klein. “Our varsity members were busy finishing their fall sports but took time to help judge for the novice tournament and some even found time to work the table for Cow Chip.”

“This was a positive weekend for our newest members,” says Coach Holly Custer. “Our novices conquered their fears and took on their first competition like champions!”

“The students are always nervous about the first competition of the season,” says Coach Hemphill. “Coach Wolf and I knew from our local summer WooCamp and weekly practices that we were dealing with a special group of talented individuals  this season.  The TEAM performance at JCU exceeded expectations and hopefully portends success at the highest levels throughout the season.”

“I’m looking forward to reining it in a bit,” confesses Coach Franck. “This team has already proved that we can compete at any level. Together or apart, they are constantly in contact with one another and supporting each other. It’s great to see this team so unified. This should be a great year!”

Carrollton High School Todd Casper Memorial

Novice Tournament!!PDQ - Keller/Hemphill and Gatz/Snoddy [ALL four teams finished with winning records] 5 of the top 10 speakers! [Gatz=10, Cassarly=8, Hemphill=6, Snoddy=5, Keller=4]

!Belcik, Carmel, Thompson and Kardulias [PF Debate] Taylor Bennington [Congressional Debate]

!!!1st Place [DI] - Taylor Mills 4th Place [Duo] - Erin O’Donnell & Matt Lorentz 4th Place [OO] - Leah Sim 6th Place [OI] - Lexi Snoddy Team Sweeps 3rd Overall (11 teams present)

Three in One

Divide and Conquer

“Quick check google. Is this New York City?”

John Carroll University

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New York City Invitational

Carrollton High School Todd Casper Memorial

Novice TournamentJohn Carroll University

New York City Invitational

THE SQUAD

“Coach Wolf and I knew from our local summer WooCamp and weekly practices that we were dealing with a special group of talented individuals this season.”

-Coach Hemphill

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DID YOU KNOW? !DID YOU KNOW? !

OCT 23 - Meet-the-Team

OCT 25 - GlenOak Novice Tournament !NOV 01 - Perry 53rd Annual Tournament !NOV 08 - Wadsworth Tournament !NOV 11 - Exec. Parents Meeting

NOV 15 - Copley/Chagrin Falls [speech/debate - split weekend]

Policy Debate is THE original debate event. The first policy debate is reported to have taken place on the campus of Wake Forest University sometime in the mid 1830’s - which means Policy Debate predates Original Oratory by as much as 20 years. . Intercollegiate competition did not occur until the 1890’s. Originally, teams of four competed against each other. Structured rules for length of speeches were not officially established until sometime in the1970s. Today Policy debate consists of 2-person teams and despite the rules changes and introduction of speed and spread, Policy Debate is still among the nation’s most competitive events.

2P, Policy, Team Debate: Whatever the Name, It’s WOOnderful Policy

Debate

The Wooster High School Policy Debate Squad started their season with an undeniable thumping of their competition. By week’s end, all four teams finished with winning records and two of the four teams pre-qualified to the OHSSL state tournament to be held the first weekend in March. A third team would have qualified but had to forfeit to their higher-seeded teammates. “Our  f ou r sen io r s d e m o n s t r a t e d t h e i r excellence in competition and leadership in the debate community that we have come to expect,” explains C o a c h D w a i n e Hemphill.  “When t h e y  r e m a i n c o n s i s t e n t l y s u p e r i o r throughout their h i g h s c h o o l careers,  we  risk b e c o m i n g c o m p l a c e n t i n recognizing their exceptional talent.  This weekend reminds us of the personal standards each has set and exceeded for themselves.” Coach Hemphill went on to add that “this was a breakthrough weekend for the junior-sophomore combo of Jared Cassarly and Lee Morris.  They scored an impressive 4-1 preliminary record and missed qualifying to state only because seniors BH and LK were seeded higher. Jared positioned himself as one of the state's elite by breaking into the top ten individual speakers.

“The entire team worked tirelessly to prepare for this tournament, and their efforts paid off in a big way,” adds Coach Andrew Wolf. “Wins of this magnitude this early in the season are difficult to pull off, but this is an extremely talented team. With

continued effort, this year's squad is poised to accomplish one of

the most successful seasons in team history.”

“For the first time in the history of the program, all WHS teams had a winning record at t h e J C U k i c k - o f f

tournament,” mentions Coach Hemphill, who couldn’t help but

beam with pride as he talked about all the students. He was quick to s h a r e h o w impressed he w a s b y t h e p o i s e o f

Freshman Estellle noting, “she was nervous about her first competition, but she was ranked as the top speaker in her first round and scored a winning record with Sophomore John Li.” The two Freshmen (Estelle Shaya and James Nielson) will team up for the first time at the GlenOak Novice tournament next week. For now, the plan is to have the three (Li, Shaya, and Nielson) rotate each week and get each of them as much experience as possible this season.

Top Row: Lee, Ben, Gaelan Middle Row: John, James, JaredBottom Row: Liz, Brooke, Estelle

The Wooster High School Speech and Debate Novices for 2014-1015 competed in their final novice tournament. “And none too soon,” Says Coach Franck. “I think our novices have outgrown their surroundings and need to match their skills against seasoned competitors. That’s when we’ll really see them blossom.”

Evan Doan isn’t so sure. “I’m a little nervous about next week’s tournament at Perry,” admits Doan. “I just need to focus on what I can do, I guess.”

Wooster has traditionally started their tournament season at Perry High School. This year, there should be over thirty schools from !

!!across the state of Ohio in attendance. “There are only 4 rounds this year which will make this tournament even more competitive than normal,” says Coach Custer. “I am really excited to get this season started!”

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WOOSTER ISSUE: 4 OCTOBER 27

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Novices Graduate The OHSSL executive committee voted

to accept a BID SYSTEM for qualification to the OHSSL State Championship Tournament this year for all events (except Policy and Congress). This system will be used this year only. At the end of the year, the committee will evaluate the pros and cons of the system and decide whether to permanently adopt the bid system, abandon the idea or modify it.

The rules surrounding this bid process are as follows:

1) There must be a minimum of at least seven sc hool s a t t end ing t he b id e l ig ib le tournament and there must be at least three rounds of competition completed per event. Novice tournaments are not bid eligible.

2) Students must earn the bids for the State tournament in the SAME category. If the category is OO, OI, EXP, PP, or Interp, the student must have earned the four bids with the SAME piece.

3) Teams or Contestants Bids awarded as Follows: i. 5-9 = 1 / (1st place) ii. 10-16 = 2 / (1st & 2nd place) iii. 17-23 = 3 / (1st - 3rd place) iv. 24-30 = 4 / (1st - 4th place) v. An additional bid will be awarded for every additional 10 competitors

4) A student who accepts his or her bid qualification to the State Tournament may not compete at the District Tournament unless he or she chooses to decline his or her bid qualification.

OHSSL Bid System Explained

1st Place [OI] - Lexi Snoddy 2nd Place [2P] - Estelle Shaya and James Nielson 3rd Place [DI] - Taylor Mills 4th Place [DUO] - Matt Lorentz and Erin O’Donnell 4th Place [HI] - Evan Doan 4th Place [P/P] - Heidi Ebin 5th Place [Congress] - Ben Carmel 6th Place [OO] - Leah Sim Novice Fall Frolic

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Expository SpeakingExpository Speaking

Out with Impromptu Speaking, in with Expository Speaking. That’s right. This summer the OHSSL Committee voted unanimously to no longer support/offer impromptu speaking. !

The next order of business was to introduce Expos i t o r y Speak i ng t o Oh io . Expository Speaking is not a new event. It has existed on the college circuit ( i n one fo rm or another) for quite a w h i l e . Expository (as it i s o f t e n referred) is a n a t i o n a l t o u r n a m e n t c o n s o l a t i o n event as well. “There’s merit in t h i s e v e n t , ” e x p l a i n s l o n g -s t a n d i n g O H S S L E x e c u t i v e C o m m i t t e e Member, Tom Mosberger. “It’s perfect for students to learn how to compose an oratory and learn how to present information in a manner that will grab and maintain the attention of their audience. !

So what is Expository? In short, Expository is a five-minute informative speech that a student creates on his/her own. In the Expository speech, the speaker does not offer a personal opinion, judgment or evaluation of the chosen subject matter; rather, the successful Expository allows the audience to develop opinions, make judgments and form evaluations.

This year, Wooster has two students in the event: Grace Comely and Sarah Ruth McConeghy. “We knew we wanted to use this event to build talent,” says Coach Franck, “but we also felt like we needed to have some experience in this division as well. After all, it’s never easy to be the

first to try something new, and we knew we needed an experienced team

member to anchor this event.” !Enter Grace Comely. Grace

joined the team late last year and competed in Original Oratory. “Her knowledge of how to compose a speech and her leadership made her a logical choice for division captain for this

new event,” says Coach Franck. “We needed

someone reliable who we could count on to make this a

viable event for our team. So we met with her and asked if she

wo u l d c o n s i d e r t a k i n g o n t h i s responsibility. !!

Sarah Ruth McConeghy is the other part in this tandem. “Sarah Ruth had a good tryout and we wanted her on the team,” says Coach Franck. “The coaching staff went back and forth in our decision of where we thought she would best fit and after a bit of shuffling, we determined Expository would be the right choice. I’m glad we took so much time and deliberation in placing these two in Expository. It think we have a winning squad in these two.”

THE SQUAD

“Being the first to try something new is never easy”

-Coach Franck

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DID YOU KNOW?

NOV 01 - Perry Tournament (ALL Events) NOV 08 - Wadsworth Tournament (ALL Events) NOV 10 - Exec. Parents Mtg. (ALL Events) NOV 15 - Copley (Speech) Chagrin Falls (Debate)

There is a raging debate between the coaches right now as to what pet is perfect for a homeowner. Can you accurately place your coaches on the correct side of the this topic?

RESOLVED: On balance the homeowner is better off owning a domesticated feline. !

PRO: ? and ? CON: ? and ? !Participants:

Custer, Franck, Hemphill, Klein !![See Next Week’s newsletter for the answer]

New Event, Same Skills

Sarah Ruth

Grace

The Wooster High School Speech and Debate Team officially started their season this week at the Perry Massillon Tournament. Wooster won 1st place in team sweepstakes out of 33 schools. “This was a big tournament for us,” says Coach Franck. “There are not many tournaments on our schedule this year where we will compete as whole team. We will split the team for much of the season in effort to give our speech members and our d e b a t e m e m b e r s t h e b e s t competition possible. It was important to see how we fare as a collective unit. I really don’t see problematic a r e a s f o r o u r team this year. We are about as well-rounded as a team can be!”

Holly Custer ag ree s t ha t t h e collective effort of the team was a major reason for the success this past weekend. “I am very proud of our students for their performances at Perry. We couldn't have placed first as a team without the efforts of all of our team members.” It was this type of effort that helped the team start the season off on the right foot.

The team had several bright spots at this tournament. The Public Forum squad competed in 12 rounds collectively and won 11 of them. The teams of Belcik/Carmel and Thompson/Kardulias were undefeated for the tournament. Policy had two tandems remain unbeaten as well. The teams of Hemphill/Keller and Snoddy/Gatz proved their metle again. Taylor Bennington earned perfect scores for t he ent i re tournament in

Congressional Debate. On the speech side, Mary Grace

and Pierre Paul proved they are ready to run

with the seniors with outstanding ranks in t he i r events capturing nothing over a rank of two for the entire day.

P e r h a p s m o s t encouraging was

t he emergence of talent from the newest

members on the team. Heidi Ebin and Lexi Snoddy both placed

in the top ten in their events at their first varsity tournament proving that Wooster’s talent spans all events and runs deep. TVV

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2014-15Stewards of excellence for more than a century

WOOSTER ISSUE: 5 NOVEMBER 03

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HIGHLIGHTS 2nd Place [SC] - Taylor Bennington 2nd Place [PF] - Patrick Carmel & Eric Belcik 2nd Place [USX] - Mary Grace Gorman 2nd Place [2P] - Brooke Hemphill & Liz Keller 3rd Place [2P] - Ben Snoddy & Gaelan Gatz 3rd Place [OO] - Pierre Paul 5th Place [DI] - Matt Friedhoff 5th Place [PF] - Alexander Thompson & Nick Kardulias !

6th Place [LD] - Peter Gooch 6th Place [IX] - Paige Clayton 6th Place [PP] - Heidi Ebin 7th Place [DI] - Nick Lee 8th Place [OI] - Drew Arbogast 8th Place [SC] - Katie Mount 9th Place [DUO] - Zack Buchholz & Tom Myers 10th Place [IX} - Samantha Brunn10th Place [OI] - Lexi Snoddy

Wooster Wins 1st place at 54th Annual Perry Invitational

1st Place - Team Sweeps1st Place - Team Sweeps

On The Prowl

Top Finishers

Gorman Bennington Keller Belcik Carmel Hemphill

Congressional Debate

“Congress is off to a great start this year,” explains Coach Klein. “We’ve added two new squad members, Ben Carmel and Ryan Miller, to an already talent-rich squad. Both of these young speakers show great promise and will be exce l l en t add i t i on s t o ou r returning squad members.”

C o n g r e s s i s n o t lacking for seasoned leadership this year e i t h e r . K l e i n explains, “Our team president, Taylor Bennington, has already qualified f o r N a t i o n a l s thanks to his strong showing (f inished 8th) this summer at t h e N a t i o n a l C h a m p i o n s h i p Tournament. He is devoting this year to ensuring a strong future for the squad by having juniors, Katie Mount and Nathaniel Steiner, take over many of the responsibilities for running the squad practices.”

Junior Katie Mount expresses the impact this event has made on her. “I have been participating in Congressional Debate since my freshman year. Since then, my entire mindset has changed. Congress isn't just about debating issues that Americans face on a daily basis. Congressional Debate is about representing a constituency that votes you into office. As an elected official, you swear to uphold the well being of  American

citizens. That's the mindset we try hard to impress upon our novices. It's not about what you think, it's about what the American people think.”

Senior Taylor Bennington has high expectations for this year’s squad. “In

my four years on the team this is by the far the most capable

squad we have had thus far. We now can call

ourselves a congress program as we (for the first time in a long time) have all f o u r y e a r s r e p r e s e n t e d .  I thoroughly look forward to offering

my experience to my squad teammates.

T h e e x p e r i e n c e I gained from nationals this

year may be invaluable to the squad.  I see myself in more

of a mentor role this year, as I pass on the torch to the underclassmen who will determine the future of this event. It's important that I help them foster their own style of leadership, so this squad can continue its successes.”

Jessie Ballow, sophomore, reflects on what she has learned from this event. “Congress has taught me not only how to speak but how to research. I have learned to think on my feet, incorporating the arguments of the other representatives. I have also learned how to speak in a better, more casual way using a wider range of vocabulary than I normally would.”

THE SQUAD

“Wooster Speech and Debate Congress continues to set an excellent example of hard work and efficiency for

the United States Congress to follow!” -Coach Klein

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NOV 08 - Wadsworth Tournament (ALL Events)

NOV 10 - Exec. Parents Mtg. (Mtg. Room - 7pm)

NOV 15 - Copley Tournament (Speech) Chagrin Falls Tournament (Debate)

NOV 21-23 - Glenbrooks (Select Students)

NOV 22 - South Range (Speech) Mentor (Debate)

This past weekend, the cow chips dropped. We had three individuals with deeds for the winning square. Those winners (and the members who sold the deeds) are as follows:!

$500 – Jeff Hart, sold by Esther Hart $250 – Ted Morris, sold by Lee Morris $250 -  John Matis, sold by Grace Comley !!The Answer to last week’s newsletter: Custer and Klein = pro

Franck and Hemphill = con

Role Models for Elected Officials - Making Politics Work

Taylor BenNateRyan

Jessie Katie

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2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 6 NOVEMBER 10

The Wooster Generals continue to impress as they complete their second week of the season. Some students have been competing for several weeks now, but the team as a whole has only two tournaments under its belt. That said, these two tournaments have been quite impressive for the team and the coaches have high praise for the team members.

“I think our debate squads have done as good if not better than any squads in anyone’s recent memory,” says Coach Klein. “The Public Forum squad is now 22 and 2 in competition.

The squads of Belcik/Carmel and Thompson/Kardulias are still unbeaten and Gooch and Schmidt were perfect in Lincoln-Douglas debate this weekend.”

“ W e h a v e a very strong Policy Debate squad,” a d d s C o a c h Hem ph i l l . “Ou r f r e s h m e n a r e c o m p e t i n g a t a varsity level and our varsity are among the best in the state.”

“Congress is really coming into their own as well,” adds Klein. “We saw strong performances from our juniors this week in the absence of senior Taylor Bennington. It’s pretty exciting to catch glimpses of our future leaders. The juniors are certainly ready to take charge!”

“I think we’ve gotten a good look at where our team stands in relation to the rest of the state,” says Coach Franck. “It will be good to start

splitting the team now, and sending our speech and debate events to different tournaments where they can get a good look at their competition outside of the Akron and EONSDA districts.”

“Our kids are off to a great start,” adds Coach Custer. “We have several already with two bids. That’s half of what they need to prequalify to the OHSSL State tournament. That could take a lot of pressure off of them later.”

“I am super amped about how well our kids have conducted themselves so far this season,”

Coach Franck elaborates. “The support this team is giving

each other is exactly w h a t we h a ve

been hop ing for since the

start of the year. Add t o t h i s how well t h ey ’ ve all been d o i n g and you

c o u l d n ’ t ask for a

b e t t e r s t a r t t o

the year. I t ’ s p re t t y

special when kids go straight ones, all wins, or sweep a category

with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishes. Now we’ll see how they do when they’re divided. We want to challenge them so they won’t feel the pressure when it counts the most. We want to test them and make them see the talent we see in each of them.”

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Grizzly CompetitionGrizzly Competition

1st Place [Dramatic Interp] - Matt Friedhoff 1st Place [Oratorical Interp] - Alli Wigham 1st Place [LD Debate] - Brianna Schmidt 2nd Place [Oratorical Interp] - Drew Arbogast 2nd Place [Prose Poetry] - Alex Hasapis 2nd Place [U.S. Extemp] - Mary Grace Gorman 2nd Place [Policy Debate] - Gaelan Gatz & Estelle Shaya 2nd Place [Student Congress] - Katie Mount 3rd Place [PF Debate] - Alexander Thompson & Nick Kardulias 3rd Place [Oratorical Interp] - Sarah Hopkins 3rd Place [International Extemp] - Paige Clayton 4th Place [PF Deabte] - Eric Belcik & Patrick Carmel

4th Place [Policy Debate] - Brooke Hemphill & Liz Keller 4th Place [LD Debate] - Peter Gooch 4th Place [Original Oratory] - Pierre Paul 4th Place (International Extemp] - Samantha Brunn 6th Place [Policy Debate] - James Nielson & Ben Snoddy 6th Place [Dramatic Interp] - Nick Lee 7th Place [International Extemp] - Jess Lyons 9th Place [U.S. Extemp] - Killian McNeely 9th Place [Student Congress] - Nate Steiner

1st Place - Team Sweeps1st Place - Team Sweeps

HIGHLIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS

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Dramatic Interpretation

“Dramatic Interpretation will always hold a special place in my heart, as it is the event in which I competed for four years,” begins Coach Custer. “I always worry that I will put too much pressure on my Dramas - to hold them to a higher standard because the event means so much to me.”

Holly goes on to explain that “every year, I find that my Dramas are tough; they put in a lot of hours of practice (just like my other events do), and they put up with my constant comments of "let the story carry the drama! You just have to tell it!" The line between drama and melodrama is a fine one, and one that I try desperately to avoid. I strive for my Dramas to be natural, not forced, relatable, and real. I want my interpers (all of them, not just the Dramas) to understand the innate power of the story - it has everything we need - we are simply tasked with the job of telling  the story and bringing it to life.” 

Coach Custer is known for the close r e l a t i o n s h i p s s h e develops with her squads. She explains that, “my coaching s t y le t akes some getting used to, and they are adapting. I hope they know that I only ask them to do what I know they can do. They can accomplish so much - and I want them to understand that's why I push them so hard. I think this is going to be an exciting season - and I can't wait to see how much the five of them can do!”

When asked how this year’s squad is faring, Holly is quick to point out that “Matt and Nick are proving to be a formidable backbone of the Drama division. Both have already grabbed two of four required bids to qualify to the State tournament. They are setting a great example for the novice members of the division, and I rely heavily

on them to shape the futures of the new members of the division. So far, they are working beyond my expectations. Taylor, Isabelle, and Corbin are doing well, as well.”

Senior Nick Lee says, “having spent my first year in DI learning from other competitors, it was to my advantage to know what kind of piece to use and how to cut it.” Nick adds. “This year I have been working a lot more with Mrs. Custer and on my own time, but I am also spending a lot of my time helping the DI novices. I see a lot of potential in them and I know they will be able to continue in Wooster's success after the seniors graduate.”

“Dramatic Interpretation  is an outlet to express real emotion in a competitive atmosphere, which makes the

event both powerful and exhilarating,” begins senior Matt Fr iedhof f. “When I

compete in DI, my goal is to convey a message or a

m e a n i n g t h r o u g h m y interpretation of a piece

of literature. If all goes well, the reward goes beyond any awards o r r e c o g n i t i o n . Knowing that I made someone think, or affected  someone in some way, is the most

rewarding aspect of the category.”

Freshman, Corbin Lanker shares, “I love

drama as an event,  every day I practice I feel wonderful as

if a whole different person has taken over my body. Speech has really boosted

my confidence in speaking in general. Drama really surprised me when I first encountered it at a tournament, because of how purely passionate the people were about their pieces, and as I do my piece more and more I feel that same passion building within me. Overall, I think drama has both boosted my confidence and my energy when I speak.”

THE SQUAD

“This is going to be an exciting season - and I can't wait to see how much the

five of them can do!” !-Coach Custer

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NOV 10 - Exec. Parents Mtg. (Mtg. Room - 7pm) !NOV 15 - Copley Tournament (Speech) - Chagrin Falls Tournament (Debate) !NOV 21-23 - Glenbrooks (Select Students)!NOV 22 - South Range (Speech) - Mentor (Debate) !DEC 02 - Speech Night @ First Amendment

WE WILL ONCE AGAIN be hosting Speech Night at First Amendment Public House at 150 W. Liberty Street. SO MARK YOUR CALENDARS now!

This year, we will be mixing speech categories. Performances will be from 6pm to 8pm.

Performance dates will be: Dec. 09 - Performers TBA Dec. 16 - Performers TBA Jan. 20 - Performers TBA Feb. 3 - Performers TBA Feb. 10 - Performers TBA

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SPEECH AND DEBATEWOOSTER

“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

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SPEECH The Numbers say it all. 19 students placed in

the top 10 in their respective categories and secured a 2nd Place Team Finish at the Copley Tournament this weekend.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Says Coach Franck. “We saw some real improvement this week and had some pleasing surprises as well. When you look at our squads, you’ll see loaded talent. Everyone in extemporaneous speaking finished in the top ten for example. OI and DUO almost did the same!”

“Our kids are working really hard,” adds Coach Custer. “Many of them are so busy this week. Finding time to rework pieces was hard but our kids made the time and that effort showed this weekend. I’m really looking forward to when the other extra curricular events go away and I can have them just to myself. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great that they are involved in so many diverse areas but I see how overwhelming it can be for them.” !

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!

!!DEBATE Debate found success this weekend at the

Chagrin Falls Tournament. All three of the debate squads had 3-0 records or better from at least one of their members/teams. Congressional Debate is scored differently but our students managed equally impressive showings.

“We had a learning experience today,” explains Coach Klein. “Our arguments did not always win the ballot with the judges from the Cleveland District. Our kids will need to know how to adjust arguments and framework to win judges with different paradigms and fundamental ideologies. Our team had a good day but there are areas where we can improve and returning in

one week to test our adjustments will really help our squads prepare for State.” “I think policy is performing well,” says

Coach Hemphill. “Our successes reflect the time and effort our members are devoting to practices and it’s paying off. I’m very proud of them.”

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2014-15

1st Place [DI] - Nick Lee 4th Place [DI] - Matt Friedhoff 2nd Place [DUO] - Myers and Buchholz 3rd Place [DUO] - The Brothers Nicholson 3rd Place [HI] - Polly Michel 1st Place [IX] - Paige Clayton 3rd Place [IX] - Samantha Brunn 5th Place [IX] - Jess Lyons 8th Place [IX] - Shreya Gurumurthy 1st Place [OI] - Alli Wigham 2nd Place [OI] - Sarah Hopkins

7th Place [OI] - Drew Arbogast 9th Place [OI] - Lexi Snoddy 1st Place [OO] - Pierre Paul 2nd Place [PP] - Alex Hasapis 9th Place [PP} - Heidi Ebin 2nd Place [USX] - Mary Grace Gorman 5th Place [USX] - Asvin Gireesh 9th Place [USX] - Killian Mcneely 2nd Place Team Sweeps [20 teams] !!

1st Place [2P] - Hemphill and Keller 2nd Place [2P] - Snoddy and Gatz 6th Place [2P] - Li and Shaya 7th Place [2P] - Cassarly and Morris 8th Place [2P] - Peter Gooch 2nd Place [SC] - Taylor Bennington 4th Place [SC] - Katie Mount 6th Place [SC] - Nate Steiner 9th Place Team Sweeps [25 teams]

Copley - Chagrin FallsCopley - Chagrin Falls

Lee

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Wigham

Keller Hemphill

Extemporaneous Speaking

The Extempers will be the first to tell you that they are in the BEST category in speech and debate. They defend this claim with three points of analysis. First, the family atmosphere; second, the perks of the event; and finally, the real world skills they develop. Still not convinced? Perhaps a peek at these events from their perspective will give clarity. !

Senior Paige Clayton begins ‘the round’ with a personal anecdote, “Extemp has allowed me to make several new friends within our squad, as well as with other schools. We as a group get along really well and are always willing to help one another.” !

Building on this, sophomore Jess Lyons adds, “After switching to international extemp for my second year in speech, I have learned how helpful it is to have a well-rounded knowledge of foreign events as well as issues in the United States.  This limited preparation event has trained me to think on my feet, verbalize coherent arguments under pressure, and time management.” !

Satisfied with the opening remarks and first point of analysis, sophomore Asvin Gireesh crosses to the left with a clever transition to the second point in the round. “Extemp is a great category,” begins Asvin. “It’s very challenging and we see all sides of an issue. Memorizing a speech in 30 minutes is nerve wrecking;

however, drawing is like reaching into a bag containing lots of candy and a $100 bill. The chances of grabbing the c-note are slim but even if you don’t grab it, the alternative is still pretty sweet.” !

Mary Grace intervenes for the third and final point. “We adopted a new filing system called Prepd this summer, which I adore,” gleams Mary Grace. “It is run through Chrome and greatly increases our efficiency both during the tournaments and when filing, allowing us to easily highlight, search, and find relevant and up-to-date articles. When you only have 30 minutes of prep time total, very little of that can be committed to looking for the right sources, so this efficiency is a huge advantage because it gives us more time to focus on analysis, memorization, and creativity.” !

“These two groups are such a joy to coach,” concludes Coach Franck. “I see how these students work and collaborate and I know they are exactly the kind of people whom employers seek. They work well in teams, are naturally motivated and have the 21st century skills that will enable them to contribute in whatever system they find themselves. Their attention to detail and sense of ethics are to be commended. I can’t say enough positive things about these young people. Extemp is not an easy event but these young people make it look as if it is.”

THE SQUADS

“Despite all the changes over the past four years, Extemp continues to be one of the best squads on the team.” -Killian McNeely

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NOV 21-24 - GLENBROOKS (CHICAGO, IL) Poicy 1,2,3 and Congress (2) NOV 22 - SOUTH RANGE (YOUNGSTOWN) Speech Events NOV 22 - MENTOR (CLEVELAND DISTRICT) Debate Events DEC 06 - N. CANTON HOOVER All Events DEC. 09 - SPEECH NIGHT #1 First Amendment (6-8:30pm)

There is a rumor circulating about a new 3-person team event. This event combines the skills of interpretation, debate and commentary. The best part - there are NO opponents.The event is called Dramatic Extemporaneous Debate. The rules are thus:

The 3-person team begins with the debater who opens with arguments and framework for a given resolution. This is followed by dramatic appeals (pathos) from the second speaker. The third speaker comments on the action as the event progresses. A team’s success is determined by a passing of the hat. The dollar sum of the collection must be greater than the time (in minutes) of performance.

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Not satisfied with two top-ten team sweeps finishes last weekend, this week the t eam com pe t ed i n t h ree d i f f e ren t tournaments: Mentor, South Range, and Glenbrooks. Even though the team may not have finished in the top-ten in all three tournaments, the experience gained this weekend will be extremely beneficial at the end of the season when experience matters most.

The speech squads finished 4th out of 14 teams at the S o u t h R a n g e tournament in the Youngstown area.

Likewise, the debate squads had a strong showing at the M e n t o r tournament in the Cleveland area. By day’s e n d , t h e t e a m claimed 9th Place out of 26 attending teams.

“These are no small feats by our speech and debate divisions,” comments Coach Franck. “These kids are putting together impressive performances week in and week out. Not only are we seeing excellence from our seniors, but our

underclassman are rising to the challenge as well. We have multiple students placing in t he same ca tegor ie s . I t ’ s a l l ve r y encouraging.”

In addition to strong team showings, there were several reasons to celebrate individual performances this weekend as well.

Under the new OHSSL bid system, students can prequalify to the OHSSL State

tournament. In order to do so, a student (or team) must earn 4

bids. Students earn bids by placing high enough

a t t o u r n a m e n t s during the season. This weekend, t h r e e o f o u r students earned their fourth bid and join our two

PF teams (Snoddy/ Gatz and Hemphill/

K e l l e r ) a s S t a t e qualifiers, bringing the

team total of pre qualifiers to seven!

“We’ve had a great start to the year and we are heading into Thanksgiving Break with a ton of momentum,” says Coach Custer. “We need to make sure we stay hungry for excellence and keep improving.”

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2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 8 NOVEMBER 24

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HIGHLIGHTS 4th Place - Team Sweeps 9th Place - Team Sweeps

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3rd Place [DI] - Matt Friedhoff 4th Place [DI] - Nick Lee 3rd Place [DUO] - Buchholz/Myers 6th Place [DUO] - Nicholson/Nicholson 7th Place [HI] - DJ Petika 7th Place [IX] - Paige Clayton 10th Place [IX] - Jess Lyons !

3rd Place [OI] - Lexi Snoddy 4th Place [OI] - Alli Wigham 6th Place [OI} - Drew Arbogast 3rd Place [OO] - Pierre Paul 9th Place [OO] - Rachel Dugan Wood 7th Place [PP] - Alex Hasapis 9th Pkace [PP] - Heidi Ebin 6th Place [USX] - Killian Mcneely

5th Place [Congress] - Jessie Ballow5th Place [Congress] - Nate Steiner 5th Place [Policy] - Li and Nielson 7th Place [L-D] - Brianna Schmidt 7th Place [PF] - Belcik and Carmel 8th Place [PF] - Thompson/Kardulias 9th Place [PF] - Mahle/Kalikasingh

South Range Mentor

Nick Lee

Wooster’s first 4-bid State Qualifiers

Matt FriedhoffPierre Paul

Lincoln-Douglas D

ebateResolved: On balance, the Lincoln-Douglas

Debate Squad ought to prioritize skills gained through debate over winning. The Value for this team spotlight will be experience, the Value Criterion is posterity as this criterion enables exper ience to be passed on to fu ture generations.

Brianna Schmidt opens with her first constructive. In it, she states “the LD squad is pretty tight-knit this year. The whole squad has been working really well together. After rounds, we all debrief and give each other advice, and we all support each other. The novices are doing well thus far, and they both have great attitudes. Even if they don't c o m e o u t o f a tournament with a winning record, t h e y r e m a i n positive and focus on what they can do to improve. I'm really excited to see how the squad evolves as the season progresses.”

After handling cross-x with the poise and brilliance that we have come to expect from Brianna, sophomore Reis Rising solidifies his team’s case. “I feel like I have developed many skills and I continue to grow as a debater. I realize how much more comfortable

I feel speaking in front of a group, as well as the confidence I have developed. The application of researching a topic and crafting an argument for and against a specified topic will enhance my ability to write and speak. It has been so nice to get to know such a great group of people. I am thoroughly impressed with how helpful everyone has been in the short period of time I have been here. My team mates and coaches have been a big part of my progress. I really respect the leadership and the discipline of practicing and

the commitment to early mornings for departures has been a learning

experience in itself.” Crystallizing the

round, senior division captain Peter Gooch insists the squad’s s t rength l ies in prioritizing skills. “I am very proud of our squad this

season,” says Peter. “Aside from some

minor set backs, even our novices have been

able to hold their own at some of the toughest tournaments

so far. It is my goal as squad captain that we can qualify all of our debaters to the state tournament.”

Clearly this squad wins the ballot for their unanimous commitment to one another.

DID YOU KNOW? !

THE SQUAD

“This is the first time since I’ve been coaching that we have a full squad from freshman to senior and with the

leadership on this squad, I am certain we will see continued excellence in this event.”

-Coach Klein

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DEC 06 - North Canton Hoover All Events DEC 09 - Genera Executive Parent Mtg. 7pm - WHS mtg.room DEC 09 - Speech Night (#1) 6pm - First Amendment DEC 12-13 - GlenOak All Debate DEC 13 - McKinley All Speech

!!!!!!In addition to being ranked 25th in the Nation

and 1st in the state of Ohio, the Wooster Speech and Debate team boasts five students ranked in the top ten in the nation in their event.

Matt Friedhoff - 3rd - DI Zack Bucholz/Tom Myers - 5th - Duo Alex Hasapis - 3rd - Prose Alli Wigham - 6th - Oratorical InterpU

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"This Thanksgiving, We are thankful for the continued leadership and support provided by

the Wooster Speech and Debate coaching staff. Without them, we would not be where we are today as a program and as a team. Our hope is that the team continues to improve as the holidays rapidly approach, showing consistent drive, passion, and in

turn, success.” - The Senior Team Officers

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ISSUE: 9 DECEMBER 1

This year for the first time ever, the Woos t e r Speec h and Deba t e t eam participated in the Akron Children’s Festival of Trees. This marks the 33rd year the event has taken place.

The senior class began preparing for this event last year. The seniors first selected a theme (“Christmas Sweet Christmas”) and then began the task of purchasing ornaments and materials to decorate their tree. The S e n i o r O f f i c e r s (Bennington, Hemphill and Friedhoff) organized the collection of materials. Bennington and Hemphill spent Tuesday, Nov. 18 putting the tree together.

“This team enjoys a tremendous outpouring of support,” says Coach Franck. “The community is there when we need them and that makes a tremendous difference. Most programs in the state don’t have anything near the level of support we do and we can not begin to express just how much that means to us. This project is a great way for our team to give back and this project holds a special place in my heart.”

In 2011, Mr. Franck’s son Mason was born 7-weeks premature. Mason’s lungs were not fully developed and he spent his first four weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at

the Akron Children’s Hospital. “That was a difficult time for my wife

and me,” says Coach Franck. “The support we received

while we were there helped us through a scary time in our lives and I will be eternally grateful. I’m so proud of our students for deciding to devote their time and energy to this event.” “"I am so pleased that the senior members o f t h e t e a m c a m e together and participated in the Holiday Festival of

Trees,” says senior Brooke H e m p h i l l . “ T h e

community gives our team so much support and it was nice to be able to

give back for this good cause."

The senior’s tree did not sell at the Gala but it did sell before Thanksgiving for a reported cost of $450.00.

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Duo Interpretation

THE SQUAD

“Relying on someone else is definitely one of the strengths of my Duos this year. They rely on their partners and

know they have each other's backs.’ ” -Coach Custer

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DEC 06 - North Canton Hoover All Events DEC 09 - Genera Executive Parent Mtg. 7pm - WHS mtg.room DEC 09 - Speech Night (#1) 6pm - First Amendment DEC 12-13 - GlenOak All Debate DEC 13 - McKinley All Speech

We will soon host our first speech night at First Amendment Public House in downtown Wooster. Performances will start at 6:00pm on Dec. 09.

Talent for the night will be: ! Isabelle Cannon Rachel Wood Shreya Gurumurthy Asvin Gireesh Drew Arbogast DJ Petika Heidi Ebin

Duo Interpretation

Ask Zack Buchholz about Duo Interpretation and he will shoot you straight. “Duo is the best.  Duo teaches so many levels, and sub-levels of creativity, emotion, and physicality.  In order to do well you need to learn them all, and learn them quick. Duo has allowed me to learn so much about teamwork and cooperation. Duo has taught me a lot in regards to communication and organization, because your partner is depending and counting on you to do exactly what you said and execute. I wouldn't trade my speech experiences for anything.  I have grown immensely as a person because of speech, growing more confident and social.  I have made enough memories every year to last a lifetime.  The people on our team, our state and even nationally that I have competed against are the best friends I could ask f o r a n d a r e s o supportive, caring and personable.”

S t o r m Nicholson, adds t ha t “Duo i s an exciting yet incredibly challenging category to compete in. As a squad we are very strong this year and that makes every t ou r namen t more and more exciting.  There is a wide range of genres that can appear in the category and that makes the rounds very interesting.”

The newest members of the squad had plenty to say about their new home in Duo Interpretation. Matt Lorentz declares, “Duo Interpretation is an amazing event. In it you make your own world and

have others get wrapped up in it with you. I believe having a partner makes the tournaments more enjoyable because you always someone with you. Overall, I am very happy with my choice of participating in the best event out there - Duo Interpretation.”

Erin O’Donnell adds, “Being on the team this year has been a great experience. I've learned to depend on others as well as myself and I've witnessed the most intelligent, passionate people performing and doing what they love. Having a partner is a huge advantage because, as a novice,

it's terrifying to go into your first tournament and it's nice to have that crutch to lean on.

I'm proud to be a member of Woos t e r ' s Speec h and

Debate team. Coach Custer

e x p l a i n s , “ t h e creativity we are able to express in Duo is not matched i n a n y o t h e r category. I mean, let's be honest, in what other category

can your character have 4 arms? Speak in

s o p r a n o a n d b a s s simultaneously? Hear sound

effects in conjunction with the spoken words? Only one event I

know can do that - Duo Interpretation. My Duos are really growing into their characters, embracing the silliness and craziness that is Duo, and along the way, I hope they're learning a little something about themselves.I am so excited to see what the rest of the season holds in store for these 6 ... I can't wait!”

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Double the work, double the rewards

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TSPEECH AND DEBATE

2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 10 DECEMBER 8

Berserkers (or berserks) were Norse warriors who fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Most historians believe that berserkers worked themselves into a rage before battle.*

Even though the Wooster Speech and Debate students do not ‘battle,’ they d o p r e p a r e meticulously for compet i t ion. As N o r t h C a n t o n H o ove r a r e t h e Vikings, the coaching staff thought a little homage to the culture surrounding the viking would be in order for this week’s newsletter.

That said, the team enjoyed the spoils of their labors this past weekend. Two more students, Mary Grace Gorman and Alli Wigham, earned their fourth bid and pre qualified to the OHSSL State Tournament. This now makes 9 students who have pre qualified to the State Tournament.

“I’m really excited about where we are as a team,” says Coach Franck. “It’s not just that the kids are doing well or that we have so many more with 2 and 3 bids. It’s the way our kids are responding to this success. They aren’t just sitting on their laurels, content with where they are.

Everyone is hungry and they all want to get better. Bus rides home are scary quiet as kids pour over their ballots searching for critique for

improvement. Then, they share their ballots with their squad members

so that everyone knows what needs work. They

are truly amazing to watch and I couldn’t be prouder of the team environment we have created here.” The team’s next test will come

this week as debate will compete Friday

a n d S a t u r d a y a t G l e n O a k w h i l e t h e

speechies get their first taste of break rounds at McKinley.

“These tournaments just get tougher from here on out,” explains Coach Custer. “We want to test our team as much as possible so that they will be ready for the end of of our season.”

“This is what we mean by building life skills,” adds Coach Klein. “Pressure, hard work, success, disappointment. These tournaments prepare our kids for what they will see later in life. They learn how to win graciously and handle defeat with poise. These tournaments are so much more than trophies and our kids understand where the real reward is.”

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HIGHLIGHTS 2nd Place - Team Sweeps1st Place [SC] - Taylor Bennington 1st Place [OO] - Pierre Paul 2nd Place [OI] - Alli Wigham 2nd Place [LD] - Brianna Schmidt 2nd Place [2P] - Ben Snoddy & James Nielson 2nd Place [PF] - Drosos Kardulias & Alexander Thompson 3rd Place [IX] - Samantha Brunn 3rd Place [OI] - Drew Arbogast 4th Place [OI] - Sarah Hopkins 4th Place [SC] - Katie Mount 4th Place [USX] - Mary Grace Gorman

4th Place [LD] - Peter Gooch 5th Place [USX] - Asvin Gireesh 6th Place [SC] - Jessie Ballow 6th Place (2P) - Estelle Shaya & Jared Cassarly 7th Place [IX] - Jess Lyons 7th Place [PF] - Patrick Carmel & Eric Belcik 7th Place [SC] - Nate Steiner 8th Place [OO] - Rachel Dugan Wood 9th Place [PF] - Nicholas Cosmo & Scot Nielson 10th Place [PP] - Alex Hasapis 10th Place [DI] - Taylor Mills

Wooster makes another strong showing at the Hoover Rotary invitational

Forensics Berserkers

Forensics Berserkers

2nd Place - Team Sweeps *Fabing, Howard D. (1956). "On Going Berserk: A Neurochemical Inquiry". Scientific Monthly 83 (5): 232–237

Wooster makes another strong showing

Alli Mary Grace

4-Bid State Qualifiers

Humorous

InterpretationAsk DJ Petika why he loves

Humorous Interpretation so much and he will answer you with a r h e t o r i c a l question, “Why wouldn’t I do s o m e t h i n g t h a t b o t h teaches a life ski l l , and is fun?.” Now in his third year in the same event, DJ doesn’t mince words when it comes to one of his favorite activities. “I joined speech and debate with the idea that I wanted to be in the debate part of it. But, my skills were better for speech; looking back, I wouldn’t have i t any other way. Humorous Interpretation is such a great community with such wonderful people, and I’m proud to be a part of it. Also, the skills that I’ve learned in speech I will be able to apply for the rest of my life.”

W i l G a s t i e r a p p re c i a t e s t h e relationships that he has forged in his

new event. “This year, I switched to humorous interpretation,

and I could not be happier. Thanks to

HI, I've met millions of people that are just as crazy as I a m . ” W h e n a s k e d h i s favorite new skill acquired in the

event, Will says, “ J a c k Rey n o l d s

taught me how to burp the Spanish alphabet

backwards.” “These kids make being funny look

easy,” says Coach Franck. “The thing people don’t see is just how much work the put into making each line count. Our humors work just as hard as any other squad. They are always looking for the ways to make their pieces funnier. I am so impressed with what our humors are putting together. They are a great group!”

THE SQUADMEET

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DEC 09 - SPEECH NIGHT @ FIRST AMENDMENT 6:00-8:00pm DEC 09 - EXEC. PARENT MEETING 8:00-9:00pm DEC 12/13 - GLENOAK Debate DEC 13 - MCKINLEY Speech DEC 19/20 - HIGHLAND ALL EVENTS (Friday = debate only)

Humorous

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Speech Night is backSpeech Night is back

“This is a fun group to work with. They are just now coming into their own and on the verge of becoming a

very formidable group from varsity to novice.” -Coach Franck

Funny Done Easy

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TSPEECH AND DEBATE

2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 11 DECEMBER 15

Ben Snoddy and partner Gaelan Gatz achieved a perfect tournament this past weekend. The two policy debaters won EVERY ballot from start to finish to claim 1st place at the GlenOak Varsity Debate Tournament. In addition to winning every ballot, the two were ranked Best Speaker (Gaelan) and Second Best Speaker (Ben) for the tournament. “It’s a very rare feat to behold,” affirms Coach Hemphill. “You may see students go undefeated for a tournament but to win every ballot takes unanimous agreement from from all three judges in break rounds. To do that, you can’t leave any doubt in the minds of judges each and every round.”

In fact, all four debate events saw s u c c e s s a t t h e GlenOak tournament. Wooster had students break in all four debate events and claimed first place in two of them: Policy Debate and Congressional Debate.“

On the speech side, several students found success [see below]. The team finished 3rd overall on what many call the “Fantasy

Sweeps” forum. “We’re asked to pick ten students before the tournament starts,” explains Coach Franck. “Then, sweeps points are earned, based on how well those ten competitors perform. It’s a pretty cool system, but you got to know your kids and anticipate who’s going to have a great day. I feel like we’re getting better at it. Last year, we didn’t pick so well and finished 6th.”

“This is a tough point in the season,” adds Coach Holly Custer. “Our kids are

showing such tenac i ty. We’ve had quite a few

battl ing colds and various viruses, and

t h e s e l o n g e r tournaments and extended rounds c a n b e q u i t e draining. They’re all working hard

and we can’t ask for much more from

them all.” “I can tell you that

they are definitely showing true grit,” confirms Coach Phil

Klein. “The debaters piled off the bus Friday evening around 11:00pm and got back on Saturday morning at 6:30am. They are dedicated to each other and to getting better. I couldn't ask for anything more.”

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6th Place [OI] - Drew Arbogast 7th Place [IX] - Samantha Brunn 9th Place [PF] - Drosos Kardulias/Alexander Thompson 9th Place [DI] - Matt Friedhoff 10th Place [Policy Debate] - Lee Morris/Jared Cassarly 10th Place [LD Debate] - Brianna Schmidt 10th Place [Congress] - Katie Mount

A rare perfect tournament

PerfectionPerfection

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HIGHLIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS

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“The squad’s success can clearly be attributed to the leadership and dedication of this year’s

varsity squad members.” -Coach Klein

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DID YOU KNOW? !DID YOU KNOW? !

JAN 06 - PARENTS [ALL] MEETING 7-9pm [LGIR] JAN 09-10 - SYLVANIA TOURNEY Overnight Tournament JAN 12 - EXEC. PARENTS MTG 7-9pm [meeting room] JAN 16-17 - WOOSTER TOURNEY Friday = Policy Only JAN 31 - OHSSL AKRON ‘littles’ TOURNEY @ CVCA

This Tuesday from 6-8pm at First Amendment Public House, the Wooster Speech and Debate team will be presenting our second Speech Night. Come see what everyone is talking about! This week’s performers include:

DI - Taylor Mills EXP - Sarah Ruth McConeghy IX - Jess Lyons OI - Sarah Hopkins DUO - Zack Buchholz & Tom Myers HI - Wil Gastier PP - Valerie Anderson

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This year’s Public Forum squad brims with experience. Wooster fields two senior teams: Eric Belcik/Patrick Carmel, and Han Mahle/Kenny Kalikasingh. The sophomore team of Alexander Thompson/Drosos Kardulias has seen a great deal of success in their budding tenure as debaters as well. The newest team of Scot Nielson/Nicholas Cosmo had quickly found success as well making this squad on of Wooster’s strongest.

The Public Forum Debate Team has started the year with a great deal of success. Senior Eric Belcik will be one of the first to put the squad’s record up as proof of just how dominate the squad h a s b e e n i n competition. “The P u b l i c F o r u m Squad currently boasts a combined record of 50 wins and 14 losses,” says Eric. “The t e a m h a s e x p e r i e n c e d success at every tournament. Two of our teams now have three bids a piece, and are just one away from qual i fy ing to the s tate tournament.” 

Junior, PF Debate member, Scot Nielson has plenty to say concerning tactics in argumentative

speaking. “Every experience I've had with public speaking (church talks/lessons, leadership presentations, etc.) the speech, presentation, talk, etc. has revolved around me as the speaker trying to send the clearest, most understandable message I possibly can,” explains Scot. “While I want my judges to understand and agree with my speaking, I want my opponent to have no idea what I am saying. It’s been a good experience.”

Alexander Thompson, sophomore, shares his thoughts on the event saying, “For something

created by the same guy as CNN, PF is pretty wholesome and

enr iching.” Alexander adds , “ I f I had to

describe Public Forum I'd say it was like Pol icy and LD's little brother who w a s n ' t s o concerned about a n i m m i n e n t c o l l a p s e o f civilization due to a c a p i t a l i s m induced nuclear war. Also, PF, like t he o ther two, claims Congress was adop ted.” W h e n a s k e d

about his thoughts on the year thus far, Alexander is quick to point out, “I have yet to yell at someone in round this year or have the word 'conceited' appear on a ballot, so I'd say we're doing pretty well."

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Back Row: Drosos, Eric, Patrick, Alexander, and Han Front row: Nicholas and Scot (not pictured: Kenny)

SPEECH AND DEBATE

2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER

The Wooster speech and debate team ended the 2014 year the same way they started it…with a 1st place sweeps finish. That may sound like a bit too much bravado but the team has a great deal to be proud of. So far, the team has already seen 15 of its members qualify to the OHSSL State Tournament with 4 just one bid away from qualifying as well. The team has placed in the top ten at every local tournament that they have competed - no small feat considering that the team has been often split the speech and debate squads. When the t e a m h a s competed as a whole group they have placed no lower than 3rd.

T h i s p a s t weekend, the team f in ished 2014 in spectacular fashion wi th several notable finishes including the team of Mahle/Kalikasingh who won every ballot for the entire tournament in Public Forum Debate.

So what does 2015 hold in store for the team? Immediately after the Holiday break, the team will start “The Push.”

“I’m not gonna lie,” says Coach Franck. “‘The Push’ always makes me uneasy. It’s the toughest part of the year for students and coaches. It starts with the final week of midterm exams punctuated with an early Friday dismissal so we can make it to Sylvania for the two-day competition. We follow that up with our own grueling tournament and then it’s Littles, Bigs and State. The week after S tate, we work in the India Dinner

Endowment fund raiser. This is always a test for our team

and coaches.” Coach Klein

isn’t as rattled by t h e u p c o m i n g events. “Nope, not a problem,” s a y s K l e i n . “ E v e r y o t h e r school has to t r a ve r s e t h e same gauntlet so I don’t look

at it in terms of doom and gloom.”

Klein adds, “If I’m being honest, I think everyone can get wound a bit too tight this time of year. I find that the best thing I can do for the team is to just focus on the kids and help them prepare.”

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HIGHLIGHTS 1st Place [PF Debate] - Han Mahle and Kenny Kalikasingh 1st Place [DUO Interp] - Storm Nicholson and Scott Nicholson 2nd Place [PF Debate] - Alexander Thompson and Drosos Kardulias 2nd Place [DUO Interp] - Zack Buchholz and Tom Myers 2nd Place [Oratorical Interp] - Sarah Hopkins 2nd Place [Congressional Debate] - Katie Mount 2nd Place [Dramatic Interp] - Nick Lee 3rd Place [US Extemp] - Mary Grace Gorman 4th Place [Original Oratory] - Pierre Paul 5h Place [Congressional Debate] - Nate Steiner 6th Place [Oratorical Interp] - Alli Wigham 6th Place [Original Oratory] - Rachel Wood

7th Place [US Extemp] - Taylor Bennington 7th Place [International Extemp] - Paige Clayton 7th Place [Dramatic Interp] - Taylor Mills 7th Place [Policy Debate] - Liz Keller and Brooke Hemphill 8th Place [Prose/Poetry] - Alex Hasapis 8th Place [Policy Debate] - Estelle Shaya and John Li 9th Place [US Extemp] - Asvin Gireesh 9th Place [Policy Debate] - James Nielson and Gaelan Gatz 9th Place [Congressional Debate] - Jessie Ballow 10th Place [Humorous Interp] - Polly Michel 10th Place [PF Debate] - Eric Belcik and Patrick Carmel

2014 “All Good” for Team Wooster Here Comes “The Push”

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1st Place - Team Sweeps1st Place - Team Sweeps

Four more students earned their 4th bid at Highland this past weekend and are now State Qualifiers.

Belcik

HasapisCarmelHopkins

Oratorical Interp.

The record tells the tale. This year’s Oratorical Interpretation squad is simply dominant. These four squad members have accounted for 19 top ten placings in just seven tournaments. Over half of these finishes (10) are 3rd or better. “It’s actually quite an achievement says Coach Franck. “We have had three Oratorical Interpers place 6th or better three times this year. At Wadsworth, we finished 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. You know there’s something really special happening when you see three Wooster students on stage for one event. They ARE their own competition yet they find a way to stay positive and supportive of one another. I am so very proud of this entire group!”

Senior Drew Arbogast’s pride in his squad is c l e a r l y a p p a r e n t . “Being a part of the OI squad this year has been a great experience. With f o u r s t r o n g competitors in the category, we are able to build off of a n d s u p p o r t o n e another during practice and even during rounds. As a result, our successes will only continue to grow as the season progresses. I could not be more proud of our squad as a whole, and look forward to seeing what the rest of the year will bring.”

Alli Wigham concurs with her fellow senior teammate. “OI has been doing really great this

year. We have had someone place at almost every tournament. I am so happy my senior year is going out with a bang. Our novice, Lexi, has improved so much in such a short amount of time. She has so much potential and I expect her to do great things during her time on the Wooster Speech and Debate team.””

Sophomore Sarah Hopkins is quick to share the benefits of being on the team. “Joining speech has strengthened my speaking abilities in so many ways and in general made me into a more well-rounded individual. I really like the other members of OI and I think that that has definitely

contributed a lot to our success this year. We all get along really

well and that has impacted our performance

i n a pos i t i ve w a y. ” S a r a h adds, “speech

and debate has also given me the oppo r t un i t y t o become f r iends with a lot of people

t h a t I w o u l d n ’ t otherwise talk to, both

from Wooster and from other schools around the

district.” The newest member of the squad,

Freshman Lexi Snoddy, says, “I am grateful to have amazing upperclassmen to look up to and guide my way through my first season of speech. It's been very exciting to watch my team succeed and I am proud to be a part of OI.”

THE SQUAD

“This is one of the most formidable squads we’ve ever assembled!”

-Coach Franck

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DID YOU KNOW? DID YOU KNOW?

JAN 06 - PARENT MEETING (tourney prep) 7:00-9:00pm - LGIR JAN 9-10 - SYLVANIA [check website for details] JAN 12 - EXEC. PARENT MTG (tourney prep) HS Meeting Room JAN 16-17 - WOOSTER TOURNAMENT Friday = Policy Debate only JAN 20 - SPEECH NIGHT 6:00-8:30pm @ First Amendment

The team has a system in place for INCLEMENT WEATHER. IF weather is questionable, the rule of thumb is “NO NEWS = ALL PLANS REMAIN UNCHANGED.” If weather does become so bad that the buses are grounded by the WCS bus garage OR the weather where we are going is too treacherous to attempt travel, then the coaches will contact the team officers and division captains. Division captains will then, in turn, contact their squad members and team officers will follow up by grade level. Contact among members will take place via text, tweet, snapchat, phone and/or email. It’s no longer a phone tree…it’s more like an “E-tree”.

Oratorical Interp.Drew

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TSPEECH AND DEBATESPEECH AND DEBATE

2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

ISSUE: 13 JANUARY 12

Friday tested the team and its ability to communicate effectively. The day started with a WCS 2-hour delay. This did little to interfere with the team’s schedule as the original plan coincided with a delay. But, the weather would have its say and shortly thereafter, the decision to cancel school for the day was made.

“That’s when events went a bit haywire,” says coach Franck. “I contacted Mr. Keener and we discussed policy. When school is canceled, all events are suspended until the superintendent determines otherwise.”

In the interim of the decision to cancel school for the day and the initiation of the phone tree, confusion did its work and many were confused as to how the situation would be handled.

“We announced our TENTATIVE plan,” explains Coach Franck. “The idea was to meet at 1:00pm and leave shortly thereafter, PENDING approval from Dr. Tefs.”

That plan however was undermined by a forecast of continued frigid temperatures and uncertain weather conditions in the Sylvania area over the weekend.

Due to the extreme cold and uncertain conditions it was determined that all events would be canceled rather than risk student safety. “I

support our administration 100% and their decisions,” says Coach Franck. “It’s a difficult situation to be in. Especially when there are opposing opinions on the relative risk. The determining factor is always the well-being of our kids and no one wants to see them put unnecessarily in harm’s way.”

Not wanting to lose the weekend, Coach Franck and Coach Custer decided to make the most of the impromptu reprieve from competition by preparing for the upcoming home tournament.

“It’s a great time to see where we are and make sure we have everything in

place,” Coach Custer says. “There are several small

details to be considered. Those details make the

difference in whether or not a tournament is just good or great. Schools keep coming back to our tournament because we see to

it the small details are handled. This

tournament is named after a great woman and

we want to make sure we honor her memory with the

best tournament we can possible provide. She would have expected no less

from herself and her team in her time and we like to think that we continue that drive for excellence.”

Wooster High School anticipates more than 1,400 visitors. Policy debate will begin Friday night and all events will compete on Saturday.

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PREPARATIONS As of Sunday night, 935 entries (1,077 students) are registered from 42 schools. The Sharen B. Althoff Rotary Invitational will be close to full capacity. The tournament fills three schools (Kean Elementary, Edgewood Middle, and Wooster High School). If the current numbers hold, this tournament will produce 69 OHSSL State Bids and 36 UK TOC Individual Event Bids. This is the first year the OHSSL has implemented a Bid system and it is also the first year Wooster has been privileged enough to be part of the UK TOC Bid System.

Inclement Weather Has Its Day

Sylvania FoiledSylvania FoiledWOOSTERWOOSTER

PREPARATIONS

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Coaches Franck and Custer

go over the room assignments for the

Sharen B. Althoff Rotary Invitational

Senior Alex Hasapis will be the first to tell any and all about the merits of the the Prose Poetry division. “I am quite astounded by the amount of talent that prose and poetry reading has this year. I look at our category and cannot name a weak link; we simply have strengths in every aspect. I am proud to see each and every member of the prose and poetry squad excel and find success every tournament. It is exciting, as a senior, to see my squad members become better and find what works for them in Prose and Poetry Reading. I am very excited to see my teammates find success in the upcoming tournaments and watch Wooster maintain our tradition of excellence.”

With two years of experience now under her belt, Sophomore Esther Hart says, “Speech and debate has made a great impact on my life. Now, I can make speeches in class without dreading every moment of it. I love the facial expressions that people have incorporated with their creative uses of the binder we use to tell our story. Each tournament we go to inspires me to make my piece better. Its kinda funny, when you sit there in the rounds and listen to people share a story that inspired them, you start to get inspired too. I have already thought of lessons I can do next year!”

First year member, Sophomore Valerie Anderson adds, “Joining the Speech and Debate team has been one of the best additions to my extracurricular

activities. The other team members are always willing to help and I'm so thankful for the friendships I've made. I love putting together my own piece and using a binder in Prose Poetry. Speech has taught me that there is always room for improvement.” 

Freshman Jon Michel reiterates the sentiments of his peers, “I really like being in Prose Poetry. Mrs. Custer is a great coach and she has helped my speaking skills a lot. I used to slur words together and talk really fast, but I find myself enunciating words, slowing down, and speaking with more confidence now. It’s also fun because the pieces have a bit more customization than other categories. It’s also fun to watch, because Prose Poetry programs can be about

anything. I’m glad I’m in Prose Poetry.” “Many coaches in Ohio

simply think that Prose is a great event for novices

because they have to hold their script in front

of them,” explains Coach Custer. “However, this is not my philosophy. I believe that Prose is an extremely

competitive event for those who have the

drive to work and succeed. The Prose Poets

at Wooster are doing just that. I really love watching

them grow with their pieces, and I love seeing what unique themes they

discover in their literature. They are working incredibly hard to improve each week, and I am amazed by how much they've all grown in such a short time. I am excited to see what they will do in the remaining weeks of the season.”

THE SQUAD

“Prose Poetry was a complete surprise for me. I wasn’t sure I’d want to coach

it, but have grown to love the event.” -Coach Custer

EVENTS DID YOU KNOW? !

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JAN 12 - EXEC. PARENT MTG. (tourney prep) 6:30-7:30pm - HS MTG Room JAN 16-17 - WOOSTER TOURNAMENT Friday = Policy Only JAN 20 - SPEECH NIGHT 6:00-8:30pm @ First Amendment JAN 24 - NORTON HS TOURNAMENT All Events (except Policy) JAN 31- AKRON DISTRICT (LITTLES) @ CVCA

The talent slated to perform at First Amendment on Tuesday, January 20th, includes: !

DI - Isabelle Cannon OO - Leah Sim USX - Mary Grace Gorman OI - Alli Wigham DUO - Lorentz/O’Donnell HI - Jack Reynolds PP - Esther Hart

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2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 14 JANUARY 19

Wooster High School hosted an extremely successful tournament this past weekend. “I’ve heard nothing but positive comments (and a little envy),” says Coach Franck. “Our visitors were absolutely in awe of the support shown our team by our   administration and community. Having the superintendent, as s i s t an t super in t enden t , t he en t i re administrative team and president of the Wooster Rotarians present at our tournament, sent a very clear message to our guests that this weekend is special and a source of p r i d e f o r o u r community.” 

T h e tournament ran on schedule and the hosts were a b l e t o a c c o m m o d a t e ALL of their guests. “ I t i s a t r u e t e s t a m e n t t o t h e teamwork and dedication t o s u c c e s s b y a l l o u r stakeholders,” explains Coach Custer. “By day’s end, we had almost 1,200 students and 400 adults attend our event. This year, we had a blind contestant, judges in wheelchairs and coaches with physical

ailments that made it difficult for them to get where they needed to be without some sort of accommodation or assistance. Our bus drivers lifted their bags and assisted them onto (and off of) the bus, our custodians kept our school in peak condition and our parents and students went out of their way to see to it everyone enjoyed a well-run tournament and left with a positive experience.” 

“The Sharen B. Althoff Rotary Invitational was also an extremely successful

tournament for our kids,” adds Coach Klein. “We

h a d f o u r m o r e students qualify to the OHSSL State T o u r n a m e n t . Jared Cassarly and Lee Morris earned a PDQ in Po l i c y Deba t e

w h i l e D r e w A r b o g a s t

(Oratorical Interp) and Peter Gooch (Lincoln-

Douglas Debate) earned their 4th bids qualifying them to the final

state tournament of the year. We had students advance to break rounds in all but two events. It was a very impressive day.”

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HIGHLIGHTS 2nd Place - Team Sweeps [of 43] 1st Place [Policy] - Ben Snoddy/Gaelan Gatz 1st Place [DI] - Matt Friedhoff 1st Place [OI] - Ali Wigham 2nd Place [Congress] - Taylor Bennington 3rd Place [IX] - Paige Clayton 3rd Place [OO] - Pierre Paul 4th Place [PP] - Alex Haspais 6th Place [USX] - Mary Grace Gorman 6th Place [OI] - Drew Arbogast

Semifinalist [OI] - Sarah Hopkins Semifinalist [Policy] - Jared Cassarly/Lee Morris Semifinalist [DI] - Taylor Mills Semifinalist [DUO] - Zack Buccholz/Tom Myers Semifinalist [DUO] - Storm Nicholson/Scott Nicholson Quarterfinalist [Policy] - Brooke Hemphill/Liz Keller Quarterfinalist [LD] - Peter Gooch Quarterfinalist [PF] - Han Mahle/Kenny Kalikasingh

So Much To Be Proud Of

Sharen B. Althoff Rotary Invitational, a Grand Success

2nd Place - Team Sweeps

ArbogastGooch

MorrisCassarly

Four more Wooster Speech & Debate members earn

the right to compete at State!

Original O

ratoryAsk an Original Orator to share a few words

about their experiences in the event, with their division mates, and what it means to be on the team, and you will get a full explanation. Ask their coach and you will understand why that is.

“I can’t say just a few words about this group because they do so much. Our practices this year have been so productive. I am most impressed with how invested they all are in their oratories. All three have continuously revised their speeches throughout the year. They continually ask themselves and each other, “how do I make this more entertaining, passionate, informational, thought-provoking and fun?” All of that hard work has shown as the successes of this group continue to mount. I think the most important value of this event is understanding. If a s t uden t wan t s t o succeed, they have to understand their strengths and play to them. They must also understand their audience.”

“Speech and Debate has given me the opportunity to meet so many wonderful people from both our school, and from other schools as well,” says Leah Sim. “I look forward to practice every week and have made some of the most unforgettable memories with my squad members. They have never failed to offer encouragement and advice and I honestly am so proud to be a part of such a talented squad.”

“I can't imagine doing anything other than Original Oratory,” Rachel Dugan Wood explains. “It is the perfect blend of my love of speaking and creative writing. The opportunity it gives you to share your beliefs and ideas, and the chance to make a profound impact on hundreds of people with your words, is incredible. It really makes all of the difficulties and the hard work worth it.”

Division Captain, Pierre Paul reflects on his favorite moments in the past year. “One of my favorite memories with Rachel was when we both ended up on stage at the Highland Tournament, and the vibrant and immense smile that crossed her

face!” Pierre adds that practices can be just as rewarding. “I remember on one

occasion, we were doing a concentration drill. Leah was

flailing her arms in an at tempt to dis tract

Rachel. It was very very comedic - I guess you had to

be there.” On a more serious note, Pierre shares

that, “Coach F r a n c k n e v e r

hesitates to tell us the harsh truth about our

speeches and delivery, knowing it will make us better,

and he pushes us to do our very best. I have learned lessons beyond just

speech due to Mr. Franck’s coaching as well as this wonderful team which I am so proud to be a part of. Wooster Speech and Debate is not just an extracurricular activity… it’s a second family.” !

THE SQUAD

“This is a young group with a tremendous amount of talent and potential!”

-Coach Franck

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JAN 20 - SPEECH NIGHT First Amendment Public House JAN 24 - NORTON TOURNAMENT Final Regular Season Tourney JAN 31 - LITTLES (OHSSL Akron Tourney) @ CVCA FEB 10 - EXEC. PARENT MEETING 7-8pm (HS Meeting Room) FEB 21 - BIGS (EONSDA Nat. Qual.) @ Medina HS

SPEECH NIGHT IS BACK! This Tuesday from 6 to 8pm at First Amendment Public House. Due to some unforeseen conflicts, a few of the performers have had to switch with other teammates but the talent and entertain still promises to be TOP NOTCH!

So come early and claim a good seat. !PERFORMERS WILL INCLUDE:

DI - Isabelle Cannon OO - Leah Sim USX - Killian Mcneely OI - Alli Wigham DUO - Lorentz/O’Donnell HI - Evan Doan PP - Esther Hart

Original O

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HIGHLIGHTS 1st Place - Team Sweeps1st Place [IX] - Paige Clayton 1st Place [USX] - Mary Grace Gorman 1st Place [PF] - Drosos Kardulias/Alexander Thompson 1st Place [DUO] - Storm Nicholson/Scott Nicholson 2nd Place [DUO] - Tom Myers/Zach Buchholz 2nd Place [OO] - Pierre Paul 3rd Place [LD] - Brianna Schmidt 3rd Place [HI] - Jack Reynolds

4th Place [PF] - Kenny Kalikasingh/Han Mahle 5th Place [DI] - Nick Lee 5th Place [OI] - Drew Arbogast 7th Place [OI] - Sarah Hopkins 7th Place [Congress] - Nate Steiner 9th Place [PF] - Taylor Bennington/Eric Belcik 9th Place [Congress] - Jessie Ballow *Quarterfinalist - Killian Mcneely - Columbia Invitational

A Grand Finish

Regular season ends - Post season begins

In NASCAR, Teams and racers compete all season to earn a spot in “The Chase.” The Chase is a ten race schedule that determines the eventual champion. In a sense, the speech and debate season is very similar. Students spend the regular season competing and positioning themselves in an effort to be part of the extended season. Under the new OHSSL format, students attempt to capture four bids to the OHSSL State Tournament. Bids are captured based on how a student finishes at an OHSSL sanctioned tournament (this is comparable to the points NASCAR d r i ve r s e a r n ) . Those students who do not earn the required bids must attempt to qualify at their OHSSL Dis t r i c t Tournament (aka. “Littles”). Failing that, students may be able to ‘Back Door’ at the NSDA District Tournament (aka “Bigs”).

Just like NASCAR drivers, each student pushes the limits of their abilities in the hopes of making it to the extended season - speech and debate’s version of ‘The Chase.’

“It’s a very exciting time of the year,” explains Coach Franck. “Ask the parents and kids as they await the announcements at the award’s ceremony and I am sure that they will tell you this is every bit as intense as watching a sports event.”

“Simply put, this takes away so much pressure,” adds Coach Klein. “Students still have a chance to qualify through ‘Littles,’ but to pin all of those hopes on one tournament

really piles on the stress.” “It all went our way

on Sa t u rday,” say s Coach Custer. “We

needed a big day and our kids rose to the challenge.” “Coach Custer is right,” agrees Coac h Franck. “That was

one of the primary reasons t he b id

system was created. It rewards cons i s t ency

throughout the season and makes each regular season

tournament important. We know not every kid can continue into the extended season but at least now there’s more than one way and excellence during the season is rewarded.”

Schmidt

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Buchholz

Clayton

2014-15SPEECH

AND DEBATE

WOOSTER

“Cardiac Kids” - In the final tournament

of the regular season, these four

students earned their 4th bid.

The #s

When it comes to evaluating a team’s success there are a multitude of indicators that one could use. So, which one is the right choice for Wooster? The answer to that question, we will leave for you to decide.

Degrees? For the past few years, the coaching staff has chosen to use National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) degrees as a team goal. When the current seniors first joined the team as freshman, the idea that a team of 60ish members could accrue over 300 degrees seemed nearly impossible. This is no longer the c a s e . 2 0 1 5 marks the 3rd year in a row that the team has achieved this incredible mark. S o w h a t o t h e r benchmarks can one use to determine just how successful the team has been to this point?

Sweepstakes? Wooster has had its share of top finishes this season. With eight sweepstake trophies - half of the them first place - there’s little room to doubt the team’s fortitude in competition.

Service? Few probably realize just how often our team members are approached to speak for various events and organizations. Our students ARE the voice of our school and the ambassadors who continually cast a positive light on what we do as a school and community. Whether it’s raising money for the Akron Children’s Hospital or serving in various school functions, our members are

continuously involved. When asked for his

opinion, Dr. Tefs put a fine point on the subject.

" T h i s t e a m represents all that

is right about a s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t i o n .

  T h e c a m a r a d e r i e and competition,

the higher-order thinking skil ls of

analysis, synthesis and evaluation and pure love

for forensics is heartwarming.   I have rarely, if ever, seen a group

of students work so hard and yet find so much enjoyment.  Their smiles are contagious.  I so hope for their continued success as they are so very deserving."

SEASON REVIEW

"This team represents all that is right about a secondary education.”

-Wooster City Schools Superintendent, Michael Tefs

2015

EVENTS

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JAN 31 - OHSSL AKRON DISTRICT (state qualifier) “Littles” @ CVCA FEB 3 - SPEECH NIGHT 6-8pm (First Amendment Public House) FEB 10 - SPEECH NIGHT 6-8pm (First Amendment Public House) FEB 10 - EXEC. PARENT MEETING @ First Amendment following performances FEB 20-21 - NSDA EONFL DISTRICT (national qualifier) “Bigs” @ Medina HS

The school record for the most qualifiers to the OHSSL State tournament currently stands at 33 students. The Speech and Debate Team hopes to challenge that record this weekend. Wooster MUST still register those 23 students (17 events) who have pre-qualified which counts against the 39 allotted entries the team is able to register. This leaves just 22 remaining entries. 27 students will fill those slots in hopes of qualifying to the State Tournament.

3 Policy PDQs (6 students)

17 bid qualifiers (14 events)

5 post-season tournaments

remain: Littles, Bigs, State,

TOC, Nationals

8 Team Sweepsta

kes Trophies

4 - 1

st place

3 - 2

nd place

1 - 4

th place

18 - Individ

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Nothing Regular About This Season

SPEECH AND DEBATE“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 16 FEBRUARY 02 he oiceT VT V

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CHAMPIONS CONGRATULATIONS TEAM! !This marks the 28th consecutive year the Wooster Speech and Debate Team has captured the OHSSL Akron District Championship. The coaching staff can not answer with absolute certainty the question as to whether or not this is the longest standing streak of winning district championships in the entire state of Ohio (academic or athletic), but it is safe to assume that if it isn’t, then we are on a very short list of schools who have managed to maintain this level of excellence for this long. Your coaching staff, school, and community could not be any prouder of your accomplishment or the way in which you did it!A

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2014-15

This year 42 members of the Speech and Debate will attend the OHSSL State Tournament. This is a new school record. !

Back Row: Alexander Thompson, Jack Reynolds, Nate Steiner, Patrick Carmel, Killian Mcneely, Taylor Bennington, Matt Friedhoff, Gaelan Gatz, Eric Belcik, Nicholas Cosmo, and Tom Myers !Second Row from back: Drew Arbogast, Storm Nicholson, Scott Nicholson, Sarah Hopkins, Jess Lyons, Zack Buchholz, Han Mahle, Kenny Kalikasingh, John Li, Jared Cassarly, Lee Morris, and Pierre Paul !Second Row from front: Alex Hasapis, Rachel Wood, Polly Michel, Brianna Schmidt, Nick Lee, Drosos Kardulias, Scot Nielson, Alli Wigham, Ben Snoddy, and Peter Gooch !Front Row: Katie Mount, Estelle Shaya, Mary Grace Gorman, Liz Keller, Brooke Hemphill, Paige Clayton, Taylor Mills, Lexi Snoddy, and Samantha Brunn !Not Pictured: Evan Doan - 1st Alternate Heidi Ebin - 2nd Alternate

State Qualifiers Qualifiers

28 th

Consecutive

Year

Ohssl Akron District Champions

Ohssl Akron District Champions

4th year qualifiers

3rd year qualifiers

2nd year qualifiers

DID YOU KNOW?EVENTS

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FEB 10 - SPEECH NIGHT 6-8pm (First Amendment) FEB 10 - EXEC. PARENTS MEETING immediately following speech night FEB 20-21 - EONSDA DISTRICT (Nat. Qualifier) aka “Bigs” @ Medina HS MAR 04 - EXEC. PARENTS MEETING 6-8pm (Mtg. Room - HS) MAR 11 - India Dinner Endowment Fund Gala 6-10pm (Shisler Center & OARDC)

Tickets can now be purchased for the India Dinner Endowment Fund Gala. Contact any team member to purchase your ticket. Performances will range from debate to speech to interpretation and there will certainly be something for everyone to enjoy. We look forward to seeing you then.

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1st year qualifiers

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WOOSTER ISSUE: 17 FEBRUARY 16

While most of the team hunkered down for another blast of snowy, cold weather, a few brave souls decided to travel east to Pennsylvania seeking quality competition.

Two p a r e n t s , Scott Myers and Barb Friedhoff a g r e e d t o t a k e t h e g r o u p t o P i t t s b u r g h f o r t h e weekend. As the snow fell in Ohio, eight students: Matt Friedhoff, Alex Hasapis, Pierre Paul, Tom Myers, Zack Buchholz, Mary Grace Gorman, Killian Mcneely, and Alli Wigham, plowed their way through t o u g h c o m p e t i t i o n . B y Tournament’s end, all but one had broken to quarters and three would make their way to final rounds.

“They started powering early, so I saw some really tough competition,” explains Pierre Paul. “I was really surprised at how many different styles of Original Oratory that I saw. They were different but extremely well drafted and delivered. Four people from the Eastern Ohio [NSDA] District made it to the final round which means next week’s national qualifier will be super tough.”

“I really liked this tournament,” says Mary Grace Gorman. “They gave 9 minutes between draws in Extemp Prep which made things run much

more smoothly. They also sold lunch

buffet tickets a n d w e

could go b a c k when we needed w h i c h kept the l i n e s

down, so w e a l l

were able to eat when we

h a d a f r e e m o m e n t . O h i o

represented i t se l f v e r y w e l l a t t h i s

tournament. Four of the extemp finalists were from our

state!” Alex Hasapis enjoyed the

tournament as well. “This was the first time that I’ve done the event of just Poetry.

Anytime you do a new event, it adds a bit to the ‘fun factor’ which this tournament certainly did.” Alex explains that preparing for the event was a bit more involved that usual. “When we arrived, I set out and found a few Pennsylvania judges and asked them about the category. They told me not

[continued on page 2]

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HIGHLIGHTS 1st Place - Team Sweeps(Small School Division)

1st Place [ORIGINAL ORATORY] - Pierre Paul 3rd Place [POETRY READING] - Alex Hasapis 6th Place [EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING] - Mary Grace Gorman Semifinalist [DUO INTERPRETATION] - Zack Buchholz and Tom Myers Semifinalist [DRAMATIC INTERPRETATION] - Matt Friedhoff Quarterfinalist [EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING] - Killian Mcneely

Eight Take First in Small School Division at Bethel Park (Pittsburgh, PA)

A Lovely Weekend

HIGHLIGHTS

bp

Alex Mary Grace

Pierre

A Lovely Weekend

Bethel P

ark Entries[continued from page 1] !

to use my book as a prop (“book prep”) which I already knew but it was nice to hear as reassurance. In P o e t r y , y o u s imply s tate the title and author so I also had to remove my u s u a l transitions.”

B a r b . Friedhoff offered her perspective on the tournament, a d d i n g , “ I t h i n k tournaments like these have real value for our students. The exposure that they receive when competing in areas wi t h s l igh t l y d i f f e ren t paradigms makes a real difference in how our kids might do later on.”

[continued from pa

[continued !

1]

“This weekend exemplifies what this coaching staff has been saying for

t h e p a s t s e v e r a l years,” says Coach

Franck. “First, we have incredible students whose primary drive is to compete. If there is any chance, they w i l l f i n d a

way to make it h a p p e n .

Second, this team is bigger than any

one person. We are all stewards of this

program. The continued success of a program like this

lies in individual commitments of our members. I can’t think of a

better time to recognize our members and says what their efforts mean to our

team.”

THE SQUAD

“To hear ‘Wooster High School’ so many times at the awards ceremony when we had only brought

eight students was incredible. We were so proud!”

—-Barb Friedhoff (Mother and Executive Parent Committee Member)

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FEB 20-21 - EONSDA DISTRICTS “Bigs” National Qualifier MAR 04 - EXEC. PARENTS MTG. 6-8pm @ HS Mtg. Room MAR 5-7 - OHSSL STATE TOURNAMENT More Info. on Team Website MAR 11 - INDIA DINNER Endowment Fund Gala MAR 28 - EONSDA DISTRICT - CONGRESS @ Our Lady of the Elms

The Wooster High School Speech and Debate currently holds 351 degrees. This is the largest number of degrees that our school has ever had. As a result, the Wooster NSDA Chapter will be sending 35 entries (46 students) to the EONSDA District Tournament this coming weekend. Wooster will register 4 entries in every qualifying event but Policy.

CALENDAR

Matt Friedhoff

Alex Hasapis

Pierre Paul

Tom Myers

Zack Buchholz

Mary Grace Gorman

Killian Mcneely

Alli Wigham

Happy Valentines, Team! The love you show for

this program,

says everything

words cannot.

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WOOSTER ISSUE: 18 FEBRUARY 23A “Bigs” Day

The Eastern Ohio National Speech and Debate Association (EONSDA) District Tournament took just over 19 hours to complete. Students assembled at 3:30pm on Friday, February 20th and competition began sometime thereafter. By 9:00pm, the second round of events was underway - pretty typical for distr ict tournament. What was not typical, however, was the weather. With frigid cold and snow showers on the horizon, the team made plans f o r v a r i o u s scenarios and set out for the great north…ok, it was Medina (but north nevertheless).

“Every tournament is different; different ways of tabulating results and sweeps, different judge/student ratios, different judge paradigms, different circumstances,” explains coach Franck. “We tell our kids to do what

they know and trust their preparations. Meanwhile, we did everything we could to communicate our plans for possible weather conditions, so they could focus solely on the tournament.”

“We had half of our team [23] put themselves in a

position to qualify. Those are great odds,” says

Coach Klein. “Five of them qualified and seven more are alternates. o u r k i d s d i d

everything we asked of them.

Ever yone knows what’s at

stake and it takes tremendous skill and a little

luck to qualify.” “My heart breaks for the seniors who

didn’t make it,” says Custer. “It is so hard to see them come so close and not qualify. I know how much they wanted this and how hard they all worked.” [cont. pg.2]

EONSDA District

Champions

Friedhoff Paul

Myers/Buchholz Mahle/Kalikasingh Snoddy/GatzGooch

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HIGHLIGHTS EONSDA District ChampionsTeam Sweeps = 1st / Speech Sweeps = 1st / Debate Sweeps = 2nd

1st Place [DI] - Matt Friedhoff (District Champion) 1st Place [OO] - Pierre Paul (District Champion) National Qualifier [DUO] - Scott and Storm Nicholson National Qualifier [USX] - Mary Grace Gorman 1st Alternate [LD Debate] - Peter Gooch 1st Alternate [PF Debate] - Kenny Kalikasingh/Han Mahle 2nd Alternate [Policy] - Ben Snoddy/Gaelan Gatz 2nd Alternate [DUO] - Tom Myers/Zack Buchholz

Finalist [IX] - Paige Clayton Semifinalist[DI] - Nick Lee Semifinalist [IX] - Samantha Brunn Semifinalist [USX] - Killian Mcneely Quarterfinalist [Policy] – Jared Cassarly and Lee Morris Quarterfinalist [Policy] – Liz Keller and Brooke Hemphill Quarterfinalist [Lincoln–Douglas] – Brianna Schmidt Quarterfinalist [Public Forum] – Eric Belcik & Patrick Carmel

2015 District Champions

THE QUALIFIERS

“I am so proud of what our students have accomplished this year and can’t wait to see what they do at the OHSSL State Tournament in two weeks. The students have

already set several goals in regards to this tournament – and if history is any kind of indication – well…either way, they’ve already earned my admiration.”

-Coach Franck

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[“Bigs” Day cont.] S c o t t N i c h o l s o n expla ined t he success of t he i r Duo Interpretation through praise saying, “Qualifying to Nationals is such a huge accomplishment. We couldn’t have done i t wi thout our coach and teammates who push us to be better every single day.”

Mar y G race Gorman took a more analytical a p p r o a c h , b r e a k i n g h e r experience down i n t o s t a g e s . “When I found out I was going to Nats, I felt a combination of joy a n d r e l i e f . L a t e r , t h e realization hit me that my season just got several months longer because in extemp, you can’t take a month off. You have to continually file and stay up on current events, but I really don’t mind because I love it!”

Matt Friedhoff confesses, ”qualifying to the National Tournament in Dramatic Interpretation was a goal I've had since freshman year. To finally accomplish that feat

is an incredible feeling, and being s u r r o u n d e d by t h e b e s t

teammates and coaches in the nation  made this

past weekend even better.” P ie r re Pau l beams with pride as he shares, “I

am honored to represent n o t o n l y

Woos te r bu t also my district and the state

of Ohio at the largest academic competition

in the United States at this year’s National Tournament in Dallas Texas!”

In true fashion, All four students reiterated the same sentiment, “Now, we’ll set our sights on the State Tournament!"

EONSDA District

National Qualifiers

Gorman

The Brothers Nicholson

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MAR 04 - EXEC. PARENT MTG. 7PM @ HS Mtg. Room MAR 05-07 - OHSSL STATE @ Youngstown Area MAR 11 - INDIA DINNER Endowment Fund Gala MAR 14 - EXEC. PARENT MTG. 7PM @ HS Mtg. Room MAR 28 - EONSDA CONGRESS @ Our Lady of the Elms

DID YOU KNOW?

The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Championship Tournament will be held in Dallas, Texas.

SchmidtBelcik Carmel

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Keller Hemphill

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2014-15“Stewards of excellence for more than a century”

WOOSTER ISSUE: 19 MARCH 09

Coaches: Bill Franck, Holly Custer, Phil Klein, Dwaine Hemphill, Andrew Wolf Congressional Debate: Taylor Bennington, Katie Mount, Nate Steiner, Jessie Ballow, Ben Carmel, Ryan Miller Dramatic Interpretation: Matt Friedhoff, Nick Lee, Taylor Mills, Isabelle Cannon, Corbin Lanker Duo Interpretation: Zack Buchholz, Tom Myers, Scott Nicholson, Storm Nicholson, Erin O’Donnell, Matt Lorentz Expository Speaking: Grace Comley, Sarah R u t h M c C o n e g h y H u m o r o u s I n t e r p r e t a t i o n : Jack Reynolds, DJ P e t i k a , P o l l y M i c h e l , W i l l Gas t i e r, Evan D o a n I n t e r n a t i o n a l E x t e m p : P a i g e C l a y t o n , S h r e y a Gurumurthy, Samantha Brunn, Jess Lyons Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Peter Gooch, Brianna Schmidt, Reis Rising, Jeremy Lun Oratorical Interpretation: Alli Wigham, Drew Arbogast, Sarah Hopkins, Lexi Snoddy Original Oratory: Pierre Paul, Rachel Dugan Wood, Leah Sim Policy Debate: Ben Snoddy,

Gaelan Gatz, Brooke Hemphill, Liz Keller, Jared Cassarly, Lee Morris, James Nielson, Estelle Shaya, John Li Prose Poetry: Alex Hasapis, Esther Hart, Valerie Anderson, Heidi Ebin, Jon Michel Public Forum Debate: Patrick Carmel, Eric Belcik, Han Mahle, Kenny Kalikasingh, Alexander Thompson, Drosos Kardulias, Scot Nielson, Nicholas Cosmo

United States Extemp: Kil l ian M c N e e l y, M a r y G ra c e

Gorman, Asvin Gireesh Coaches: Bill Franck,

Holly Custer, Phil K l e i n , D w a i n e Hemphill, Andrew W o l f Cong re s s i ona l Debate: Taylor Bennington, Katie

M o u n t , N a t e S t e i n e r , J e s s i e

Ballow, Ben Carmel, Ryan Miller Dramatic

I n t e r p r e t a t i o n : M a t t Friedhoff, Nick Lee, Taylor Mills,

Isabelle Cannon, Corbin Lanker Duo Interpretation: Zack Buchholz, Tom Myers, Scott Nicholson, Storm Nicholson, Erin O’Donnell, Matt Lorentz Expository Speaking: Grace Comley, Sarah Ruth McConeghy

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OHSSL State Champions he

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State Champion - Taylor Bennington - Student Congress State Champions – Ben Snoddy/Gaelan Gatz – Policy Debate 6th Place – Ali Wigham – Oratorical Interpretation Semifinalist – Mary Grace Gorman – United States Extemp Semifinalist – Alex Hasapis – Prose Poetry Semifinalist – Pierre Paul – Original Oratory Semifinalists – Storm and Scott Nicholson – Duo Interpretation Semifinalist – Nick Lee – Dramatic Interpretation Semifinalist – Nate Steiner – Congressional Debate Semifinalist – Katie Mount– Congressional Debate

Quarterfinalist – Jared Cassarly/Lee Morris – Policy Debate Quarterfinalist – Paige Clayton – International Extemp Quarterfinalist – Drew Arbogast – Oratorical Interp Quarterfinalist – Rachel Wood – Original Oratory Quarterfinalists – Patrick Carmel/Eric Belcik – Public Forum Octafinalists – Han Mahle/Kenny Kalikasingh – Public Forum Octafinalists – Alexander Thompson/Drosos Kardulias – Public Forum

Humorous Interpretation: Jack Reynolds, DJ Petika, Polly Michel, Will Gastier, Evan Doan International Extemp: Paige Clayton, Shreya Gurumurthy, Samantha Brunn, Jess Lyons Lincoln-Douglas Debate: Peter Gooch, Brianna Schmidt, Reis Rising, Jeremy Lun Oratorical Interpretation: Alli Wigham, Drew Arbogast, Sarah Hopkins, Lexi Snoddy Original Oratory: Pierre Paul, Rachel Dugan Wood, Leah Sim Policy Debate: Ben S n o d d y, G a e l a n G a t z , B r o o k e H e m p h i l l , L i z Ke l l e r , J a red Cassar ly, Lee Morris, James Nielson, Estelle Shaya, John Li P ro s e Po e t r y : A l e x H a s a p i s , Esther Hart, Valerie Anderson, Heidi Ebin, Jon Michel Public Forum Debate: Patrick Carmel, Eric Belcik, Han Mahle, Kenny Kalikasingh, Alexander Thompson, Drosos Kardulias, Scot Nielson, Nicholas Cosmo United States Extemp: Killian McNeely, Mary Grace Gorman, Asvin Gireesh Coaches: Bill Franck,

Holly Custer, Phil Klein, Dwaine Hemphill, Andrew Wolf Congressional Debate: Taylor Bennington, Katie Mount, Nate Steiner, Jessie Ballow, Ben Carmel, Ryan Miller Dramatic Interpretation: Matt Friedhoff, Nick Lee, Taylor Mills, Isabelle Cannon, Corbin Lanker Duo Interpretation: Zack Buchholz, Tom Myers, Scot t Nicholson, S torm

Nicholson, Erin O’Donnell, Matt L o r e n t z E x p o s i t o r y

S p e a k i n g : G r a c e Comley, Sarah Ruth

M c C o n e g h y H u m o r o u s Interpretat ion: Jack Reynolds, DJ Petika, Polly M i c h e l , W i l l Gast ier, Evan

D o a n I n t e r n a t i o n a l

E x t e m p : P a i g e C l a y t o n , S h r e y a

Gurumurthy, Samantha Brunn, Jess Lyons Lincoln-

Douglas Debate: Peter Gooch, Brianna Schmidt, Reis Rising, Jeremy Lun Oratorical Interpretation: Alli Wigham, Drew Arbogast, Sarah Hopkins, Lexi Snoddy Original Oratory: Pierre Paul, Rachel Dugan Wood

THE FINALISTS !2014-2015

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!DID YOU KNOW?

MAR 11 - INDIA DINNER GALA OARDC Shisler Center MAR 21 - PRACTICE CONGRESS Stow HS MAR 28 - EONSDA CONGRESS Our Lady of the Elms APR 14 - EXEC. PARENTS MTG. 6:00-8:00pm HS Mtg Rm. APR 20 - TEAM BANQUET @ Memories Party & Conf. Ctr.

This marks the 88th year that the Ohio High School Speech League (OHSSL) has hosted a State Championship Tournament. This weekend also marks the 8th time Wooster High School has won the OHSSL State Title:

1935, 1942, 1952, 1953, 2001, 2002, 2006,

2015!

Ohssl S

tateWe are so proud of you

Gaelan Gatz and Ben Snoddy State Champions:

Policy Debate

Ben Snoddy Best Speaker

Ohssl S

tate

The Wooster High School Speech and Debate team announced this week the start of a new mentorship outreach program for middle school students.

“We hope to accomplish three goals with this program,” Says Coach Franck. “First and foremost, we want to give middle school s t uden t s t he oppor tun i t y t o exper i ence compe t i t i ve speech. Second, we want o u r m e m b e r s t o experience what it’s l i k e t o c o a c h . Finally, we hope t h i s o u t r e a c h p r o g r a m w i l l b u i l d po s i t i ve r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n o u r members and future potential members of t h i s t e a m . I f w e accomplish all of this, the program will be a success.”

Coach Custer adds, “we know if students have the chance to experience speech and debate early, we can give them positive experiences which will increase the likelihood that they will want to participate in this activity when they come to the high school. Furthermore, if our students can experience

what it’s like to coach, they will be more likely to pursue opportunities to share what they’ve learned to beginners at some point in the future. Speech and Debate programs rely heavily on alumni returning to share their knowledge with novices.”

“We take a great deal of pride in our team,” adds Coach Klein. “These

seniors are top notch kids and I they all will make

great mentors. This is the perfect time to

try and begin a program that will encourage rising h i g h s c h o o l s t u d e n t s t o consider Speech

and Debate. If you would

like to learn more a b o u t t h e W H S

M e n t o r s h i p O u t r e a c h Program, please visit us at

teamwooster.org. There you will find a link in the navigation bar for the Outreach Program. High School mentors will meet with interested middle schoolers after school on April 6th (April 13th for St. Mary’s Students). This program has something for everyone. TV

2014-15

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Taylor Bennington (Auto Qualifier) David Burnett (Auto Qualifier) Katie Mount Alex Hasapis

EONSDA Congress National QualifiersSpeech & Debate

MENTORSHIP PROGRAM BEGINS

“Excellence is something that must be forged in the

fires of adversity and tested by each member of the group if it

is to remain untarnished.”! -Coach Franck

Wooster will be taking eight students to the NSDA National Tournament in Dallas, Texas this June. Alex Hasapis and Katie Mount, both first-time qualifiers, will be joining Taylor Bennington in the Congressional Debate category. The other five include Matt Friedhoff (DI), Scott and Storm Nicholson (DUO), Mary Grace Gorman (USX) and Pierre Paul (OO).

“There were several bright spots in This weekend’s qualifier,” says Coach Franck. “We had students on stage for all four houses. It was really cool to see Wooster Students take top honors in three of the four houses.”

“Our students prepared well for this tournament,” adds Coach Klein. “They were ready to speak on just about every piece of

legislation and they worked as a team in chamber and pushed each other to

success.” “This is a special group of young people and I’m really proud of their accomplishments. I know this year’s Nationals will be fun. These kids are all so positive and such great

Ambassadors for our school,” says Coach Franck. “We’ve taken this group

to many tournaments and they always show our program in a positive light.”

BurnettBennington

4-year National Qualifier

3-year National Qualifier

“I am so proud of what our students have accomplished this year and can’t wait to see what they do at the OHSSL State Tournament in two weeks. The students have

already set several goals in regards to this tournament – and if history is any kind of indication – well…either way, they’ve already earned my admiration.”

-Coach Franck

CALENDARUPC

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DID YOU KNOW?

MAR 04 - EXEC. PARENT MTG. 7PM @ HS Mtg. Room MAR 05-07 - OHSSL STATE @ Youngstown Area MAR 11 - INDIA DINNER Endowment Fund Gala MAR 14 - EXEC. PARENT MTG. 7PM @ HS Mtg. Room MAR 28 - EONSDA CONGRESS @ Our Lady of the Elms

DID YOU KNOW?

The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Championship Tournament will be held in Dallas, Texas.

THE 2015 EONSDACONGRESSIONAL

DEBATE

HIGHLIGHTS EONSDA Congress PlacingsHouse A: Alex Hasapis (1st Place/First-time Qualifier) House A: Matt Friedhoff (2nd Place/Previously Qualifier in DI) House A: Ben Carmel (Best PO) House B: Taylor Bennington (1st Place/Best PO/Auto-Qaulifier) House C: Eric Belcik (3rd Place/2nd Alt.) House C: Killian Mcnneely (4th place/3rd Alt.) House D: Katie Mount (1st Place/First-time Qualifier) House D: Nate Steiner (6th place/5th Alt.)

Champions Champions

Hasapis Mount

WOOSTER ADDS TWO MORE

22015

0

15SPEECH AND DEBATE

Stewards of excellence for more than a century

WOOSTERSenior Class

FRONT ROW SECOND ROW

THIRD ROW BACK ROW

NICK LEE (DI), HAN MAHLE (PF), ZACK BUCHHOLZ (DUO), PETER GOOCH (LD), DREW ARBOGAST (OI)

ALLI WIGHAM (OI), LIZ KELLER (2P), BROOKE HEMPHILL (2P), PAIGE CLAYTON (EXT)

ALEX HASAPIS (PP), SCOTT NICHOLSON (DUO), STORM NICHOLSON (DUO), TOM MYERS (DUO), BEN SNODDY (2P), JACK REYNOLDS (HI)

ERIC BELCIK (PF), GAELAN GATZ (2P), MATT FRIEDHOFF (DI), TAYLOR BENNINGTON (SC), PATRICK CARMEL (PF), KILLIAN MCNEELY (USX)

Stewards of excellence for more than a century

WOOSTERSPEECH AND DEBATE

016016

2 2Junior Class

FRONT ROW SECOND ROW

THIRD ROW BACK ROW

BRIANNA SCHMIDT (LD), KATIE MOUNT (SC), POLLY MICHEL (HI), JESSICA EZEJI (IX)

TAYLOR MILLS (DI), SAMANTHA BRUNN (IX), MARY GRACE GORMAN (USX)

NATHANIEL STEINER (SC), JARED CASSARLY (2P), PIERRE PAUL (OO), SHREYA GURUMURTHY (IX), GRACE COMLY (EXP)

DJ PETIKA (HI), SCOT NIELSON (PF)

22017

SPEECH AND DEBATEStewards of excellence for more than a century

WOOSTER

0

17Sophomore Class

FRONT ROW SECOND ROW

THIRD ROW BACK ROW

RACHEL DUGAN WOOD (OO), VALERIE ANDERSON (PP), SARAH HOPKINS (OI), JESSIE BALLOW (SC)

LEAH SIM (OO), ASVIN GIREESH (USX), HEIDI EBIN (PP)

ESTHER HART (PP), ISABELLE CANNON (DI), JESS LYONS (IX), DROSOS KARDULIAS (PF), JOHN LI (2P)

REIS RISING (LD), WIL GASTIER (HI), LEE MORRIS (2P), RYAN MILLER (SC), ALEXANDER THOMPSON (PF)

Stewards of excellence for more than a century

WOOSTERSPEECH AND DEBATE

018018

2 2Freshman Class

FRONT ROW SECOND ROW

THIRD ROW BACK ROW

JEREMY LUN (LD), SARAH MCCONEGHY (EXP), ESTELLE SHAYA (2P)

LEXI SNODDY (OI), ERIN O’DONNELL (DUO)

MATT LORENTZ (DUO), JAMES NIELSON (2P) EVAN DOAN (HI), JON MICHEL (PP)

NICHOLAS COSMO (PF), BEN CARMEL (SC)

!! !Stewards Of Excellence For Over A Century

!27 28 Consecutive OHSSL Akron District Team Championships

52 55 Individual State Champions

7 8 OHSSL State Championships: 1935, 1942, 1952, 1953, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2015

“NFL 300 Club” For 2nd 3rd Consecutive Year

9 Current NFL Academic All-Americans (New School Record)

64 65 appearances at NSDA National Championship Tournament

!What Will Your Legacy Be?