St. Andrew's Episcopal School
Madison Central High School
A Day in the Life of a St. Andrew's Student
The National Speech and Debate Association holds their national tournament each year. This year's tournament took place in Salt Lake City, Utah the week of June 12 to 18. Students generally qualify for nationals through competition at District tournaments - in the case of Mississippi, the state is our district and we generally qualify two students or teams for nationals in each of the respective events (though there are some exceptions to this).
"One of the things that is amazing about the Magnolia District is that while we are very competitive during the course of the season, when nationals comes around, we really do become one squad, which is a tribute to the work of our District Chair," says St. Andrew's head debate coach Darin Maier. "Thus, it makes it easy to root for someone like Ian and for other coaches to root for Ishan because they know that their successes are a reflection of the success of the district as a whole."
Ian Hennington placed 2nd in the House portion of the Student Congress competition. This meant that he was selected by the judges as one of the top competitors in his preliminary round chamber and then again in his semi-finals chamber, which earned him the right to compete in the final sessions of the House (24 students advance to this level). There were approximately 230 competitors in the House.
Ishan Bhatt placed 6th in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. He had two judges in each of his six preliminary rounds where he won a total of nine ballots (you need eight to advance), which advanced him to the elimination rounds, where the tournament becomes a double-elimination contest. Ishan won his first four elimination debates before picking up his first loss, then won two more before losing to the eventual national champion. There were approximately 260 competitors in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, a one-on-one debate regarding a resolution. For this year's national tournament, the resolution was "Resolved: Immigration ought to be recognized as a human right."
Ishan traveled to Utah with saints debate coach Jharick Shields. "I am quite proud of Ishan and his accomplishment at the NSDA National Tournament. For anyone, let alone a freshman, to achieve top six in the nation is exemplary and a testament to how hard Ishan has worked this year," says Shields. "We are extremely humble and pleased with our result, and look forward to similar success in the future."
Because of these results, both Madison Central and St. Andrew's were recognized by the National Speech and Debate Association as Debate Schools of Honor for the 2016 National Tournament, recognizing them as being among the top 40 performing debate squads at the national tournament. St. Andrew's last won a similar honor in 2009 when it was named a Debate School of Excellence, placing their performance in the top 20 squads nationally.
"Mississippi may get a bad rap for a number of things, but the activity of Speech and Debate is one in which Mississippi typically does very well. The MHSAA has made a strong and continuing commitment to this activity through its awarding of state championships, to its sending representation to the National Federation of High Schools' Debate Topic Selection Meeting each August, to its active involvement in the selection of a Speech, Debate and Theatre Outstanding Educator," says Maier. "MHSAA Executive Director Don Hinton has been nothing but supportive of this activity and those of us who coach debate appreciate his efforts, which continue to pay off."
About St. Andrew's Episcopal School 39157:
Founded in 1947, St. Andrew's Episcopal School is an independent, coeducational, college preparatory day school serving over 1,100 students in pre-K through grade 12 on two campuses. St. Andrew's is nationally ranked and recognized for academic excellence while cultivating the critical thinking skills needed to excel. Valuing diversity, St. Andrew's welcomes students of any race, color, religion, nationality or ethnic origin. Typically, 100 percent of St. Andrew's graduates attend four-year colleges and universities.
For more information about St. Andrew's, visit http://www.gosaints.org/.
Darin Maier
(601) 862-3373
maierd@gosaints.org
Source: EmailWire.Com