Keeping it 1/100
Written by Dasom Ham
East Ridge High School’s speech and debate teams hit a high note this season. The debate team sent three juniors to New York City for an international debate and the speech team sent a record number of students to the state speech tournament.
Earlier in April, East Ridge High School’s debate team sent juniors Alicia Zhang, Bradley Cho, and Kevin Bi to the International Public Policy Forum in New York City on April 1-3. They won 2nd place.
For East Ridge’s speech team, this year’s season has been filled with success and records. “We had another record,” Alicia Zhang added. On March 16th, the team placed 2nd overall out of 12 schools in the section 3AA tournament. In addition, the team sent a record number of 14 students to the State Tournament and placed 5th place in a pool of 64 schools.
Individually, seven East Ridge students placed in the State. Alicia Zhang won 3rd place and Kevin Bi won 4th place in Extemporaneous Speaking. In Great Speeches, Jayden Ogbodo placed 6th. In Storytelling, Tony May won 4th place, and, in Discussion, Maggie Kenney ranked 8th. Tre Edgerton and Quintin Walker became State Champions in Poetry and Creative Expression respectively. “I really appreciate the opportunities to explore different issues and expand our knowledge,” Kevin Bi said.
