Ten Academy students — twice as many as last year — have qualified for the National Speech & Debate Championship, and four were crowned district champions, at the 2025 District National Qualifier Tournament at the end of March. They are:
- Aarush Tutiki ’26 — International Extemporaneous Speaking District Champ
- Ayla Zomermaand ’25 — International Extemporaneous Speaking
- Meryem Anderoglu ’25 — Original Oratory
- Zoya Jehanzeb ’28 — United States Extemporaneous Speaking
- Anagha Devarakonda ’26 & Jaycee Marquez ’26 — Public Forum Debate District Champs
- Sowmya Sankaran ’27 — Lincoln Douglas Debate District Champ
- Rosa Duvall ’26 — Congressional Debate
- Vincent Walters ’25 — World Schools Debate
- William Landahl ’26 — World Schools Debate
The Academy sent 18 of its 25 members to the final elimination rounds, and the team secured qualifying spots in five of seven events in which they were entered. “Our performance was so strong,” says Coach Elise Matton, “that we earned the 1st Place Speech Sweepstakes Award and the 1st Place Overall Team Sweepstakes Award.”
Debate students extensively researched topics ranging from AI surveillance in schools, and the dangers of Artificial General Intelligence, Indigenous intellectual property rights, and concepts related to Supreme Court “court clog.” Speech students presented pieces on the effect of inflation on working-class families, apiculture and bee-keeping, noise pollution, mestiza identity, and the experiences of women in debate.
