Last season was one to remember for the speech and debate team.
Not only did several members qualify for the national tournament in Des Moines, Iowa, held in mid-June, but several excelled in it. In Public Forum debate, Class of ‘25 alumni Ashish Goswami and Leonardo Jia made it to quarterfinals and ended up placing 8th out of 247 teams. In addition, seniors Anthony Luo and Jet Tsang made it to Round 10, placing 25th.
In Humorous Interpretation, Class of ‘25 alumni Timothy Leung placed ninth among 248 entries, making it to semifinals, while alumna Kinnera Potluri made it to the second round of octafinals.
Juniors Devika Nair and Sanyukta Ravishankar competed in storytelling and extemporaneous debate respectively, and both broke to the elimination round.
All of this success relied on the strong senior class whose talent and leadership paved the way for the rest of the team. Due to the loss of these graduated seniors, returning members are working to make adjustments and fill in empty positions.
In order to bring in new talent and develop new leaders, the team hosted a paid summer camp to introduce middle school students to the speech and debate environment. Similar to previous years, students decided if they wanted to spend the camp doing speech or debate. Current co-presidents, Nair and Ravishankar, hosted the camp.
This year, camp leaders decided to split debate into novice and intermediate levels, helping to divide the kids according to their skill level so they can get proper coaching and advice.
With prepared lessons and activities to help students learn the material, the camp saw the highest number of enrollments ever with a total of 29 kids signing up, raising over $11,000 for the team’s booster in the process.
In order to further prepare current middle school students for future high school speech and debate, the team also launched a Redwood Middle mentorship program in 2024, where coaches Jenny Cook and Steve Clemmons and high school volunteers teach middle school students the basics of speech and debate, building confidence at the same time.
As the 2025–26 season opens, the team is led by a new leadership board. Along with Nair and Ravishankar serving as co-presidents, junior Preksha Jain is serving as vice president of speech, and senior Anthony Luo and junior Tanvee Tirthapura are serving as co-vice presidents for debate.
Nair said the group’s goals include creating strong bonds among members, helping individuals place well at tournaments and improving its social media presence.
The team is focused on building on last year’s momentum and is determined to make the season another standout year. With 49 students signing up at Club Rush on Sept. 4 and a strong turnout of over 50 students and parents at an information night held on Sept. 10, the team is excited about the level of interest and potential for growth.
In the team’s first meeting on Sept. 16, over 30 students attended and showed initial interest. The first practice started with a fun ice breaker for students to get to know the leadership team and coaches before speech, spending some time on independent work and debating giving lessons on the basis of writing a case.
Additionally, the developing Redwood mentorship program has become a significant part of the team’s focus and goals, with over 70 middle school students attending the first practice.
“Overall, I think it is going to be a great year for the team,” Nair said. “We definitely have big goals, but seeing how much success we had last season and the amount of students we have interested, I’m confident we can do it again.”
