This past weekend, fourteen members of the Windward Speech & Debate team took part in the California State Championship- a highly exclusive tournament featuring the highest ranking students from around the state.
While there, students engaged in a variety of competitive events. Debaters were tasked with researching a wide range of topics: from the benefits of investing in nuclear energy, to the future of US voting, to the various strategies that African countries can take in order to maximize their economic growth. Meanwhile, our speech students engaged with their own myriad of complex discussions. Through a combination of personally written speeches, dramatic monologues, and in-depth political research, our speech students tackled deeply-relevant social issues. Whether it be Harper Caruso’s (‘27) speech on productive political discourse, Zoë Katz’s (‘26) speech on grief exploitation in the funeral industry, Tabitha Green’s (‘25) speech on the need for Alzheimer’s research, or Kennedy Richard’s (‘25) speech on the Little Rock Nine, every speech student asked their audience to grapple with the work that still needs to be done if we are to create a more cohesive, more empathetic, and more equal society.
While every attending student offered something valuable to the competition, there were four who truly managed to leave their mark. Rose Butje ‘27, Teddy Sipkins ‘25, Carter Mitchell ‘25, and Kennedy Richard ‘25 all left the tournament in the top 10 of their respective categories in the state. Rose finished 7th in the state in International Extemp as one of the only underclassmen in the final round. Teddy Sipkins ‘25 & Carter Mitchell ‘25 continued an astounding win streak at the tournament- breaking to top 16 for the third year in a row. Ultimately, the debate duo ended the weekend 6th in the state in Parliamentary Debate. Last, but certainly not least, Kennedy Richard ‘25 competed in Dramatic Interpretation, advancing to the final round for the second year in a row. While there, she made speech & debate history- finishing the tournament as Windward’s first ever State Champion.
By the end of the weekend, Windward’s name was on everyone’s minds. Not only for the fantastic results of its individual competitors, but also because of what they managed to accomplish as a team. In the overall school sweepstakes, Windward secured 12th place, cementing itself as one of the top teams in one of the most competitive states in the country. This victory, another first in Windward history, came only after the School had beaten over 350 other teams to the title, cementing itself as the top team in its local, Los Angeles-based league.
These victories represent the hard work, dedication, and brilliance of the program’s current students. The Windward Wildcats have clawed their way to the top of every single tournament they’ve attended this year, and these results at their second-to-last capstone tournament of the year show that with enough hard work and dedication, anything is PAWsible for this team! Congratulations to all the attending students:
- Rose Butje '27: International Extemp
- Kennedy Richard '25: Dramatic Interpretation
- Harper Caruso '27: Original Oratory
- Zoë Katz '26: Informative Speaking
- Luca Hayutin '28: Domestic Extemp
- Lila Ahitov '26: DUO Interpretation
- Lila Hernand '26: DUO Interpretation
- Tabby Green '25: Dramatic Interpretation
- Sydney Litt '26 & Arya Shooshani '26: Public Forum Debate
- Teddy Sipkins '25 & Carter Mitchell '25: Parliamentary Debate
- Fia Fischler '27 & Leah Gray '27: Parliamentary Debate