On Jan. 19, the Hotchkiss Speech and Debate Team traveled to Wallingford, CT, for the Choate Invitational Debate Tournament, where the Hotchkiss team won the First Place School Prize. One hundred-eighty-eight students from around New England attended the competition at Choate, representing 22 schools.

The Hotchkiss Novice team won the Best Four Person Novice team. Arhan Chhabra ’22, Ein Jun ’22, Ilene Park ’22, and Alec Stern ’21 did very well, finishing with a record of 5-1.The Hotchkiss Advanced team had a remarkable day, with the four debaters all finishing in the top ten: Stella Ren ’22 came in second Place, Captain David Vega ’20 came in third, Beatrice Conti ’22 came in fourth and Kelly Zuo ’20 finished in a four-way tie for fifth place. Vega and Zuo won the Second Place Advanced Two Person team award.

The Hotchkiss Speech and Debate Team has had a very successful season. The team has attended four parliamentary debates this year, winning three and coming in second in one. In addition to success in parliamentary debate, two members of the team (Vega and Conti) have qualified for the World Championships in Shanghai in April.  The team competes at a Parliamentary Debate tournament at St. Sebastian’s School in February and a Public Speaking Tournament at Northfield Mount Hermon School in April.

Students are always welcome to join the Speech and Debate Team. Meeting are held every Tuesday and Thursday, 6-7 p.m., in the SACR.  For more information, please contact captains David Vega and Alex McLane, or coaches David Conti and Thomas Fisher.