On Sunday, Feb. 4, KO’s speech and debate club, Forensic Union, and KO faculty members hosted the Kingswood Oxford Public Speaking Tournament as an event in the Debating Association of New England Independent Schools (DANEIS).
KO actively participates in DANEIS, along with other competitors, including Hotchkiss, Choate, St. Sebastian’s, The Commonwealth, Stoneleigh Burnham, Winsor, Northfield Mount Hermon, Rocksbury Latin, and Buckingham Browne, and Nichols.
In total, more than 30 competitors competed in the event, each taking part in four separate events. The first event was a persuasive speech. In this section, students had to convince a judge about a topic of choice through a memorized five-minute speech. The second event was an impromptu speech about a topic provided to competitors that day. Next, there was an After Dinner speech, which, although meant to be funny, also needed to be memorized. Finally, students had to speak about an ethical dilemma presented to them.
KO had only had one senior debater compete, senior Ryan Zheng. Despite only having one member compete, several members of the Forensic Union were able to learn valuable skills as well. “The event was a very informative experience,” senior officer Andrew La Croix said. “It helped the team become more cohesive and allowed for some of the younger officers to learn how to run tournaments effectively.”
The tournament was judged by two faculty members brought by each school and four KO faculty members: Head of the Upper School Lisa Loeb, English teacher Michelle Caswell, Spanish teacher Carolina Croes, and history teacher Ted Levine. Many KO students helped with various activities during the tournament. Tournament organizers included seniors Andrew La Croix, Bassil Chugtai, Saanve Bathula, Minnila Muthukumar, Leo Zhang, Sinani Sebadukka, and juniors Eudel Ma, Max Huang, and Santi Croes-Ball. Senior Max Bedard and junior Kayla Buttaro also volunteered as timers for the event.
“Everyone had a lot of fun,” Mrs. Croes said. “The tournament went smoothly, and I could see everyone was happy,” she said. All the students who competed or volunteered were central to the success of the tournament. They handled many duties, including timing for speeches and organizing the overall event. Andrew delivered the opening address, while Santi and Max delivered the closing address. This event allowed students to watch public speaking and also enjoy the competition.
