Archmere Academy Hosts the First Ever Delaware Speech and Debate Association Tournament

4/16/2018

On Saturday April 14th, Archmere Academy hosted the first Delaware State Tournament for the newly-formed Delaware Speech and Debate Association (DSDA). Archmere is only one of four schools (Cab Calloway, Ursuline, Wilmington Charter, Archmere) to found the first Delaware chapter of the National Speech and Debate Association. Previously, Delaware was the only state without a chapter, though it has been a long-standing member of the Philadelphia Catholic Forensics League (PCFL). Forty-five students from seven Delaware schools competed at the Tournament on Saturday. Twenty-five judges evaluated the speech and debate events, including Archmere teachers Dorothy Escobar, Michael Johnson, and Brian Manelski. The students were supervised by Mr. Tim Dougherty.

Archmere students performed well and many placed high in their specific events:

Freshman Owen Phillips earned a first-place trophy in the Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Freshman Alexis Rendel earned a third-place trophy in Dramatic Interpretation
Freshman Rohit Mathur earned a first-place trophy in Declamation (presenting a published speech)
Sophomore Sophia Liston earned a first-place trophy oral interpretation/poetry. (Two weeks ago at Wilmington Charter's WCFL national-qualifying competition, Sophia won first place in the same event and qualified for nationals at the National Catholic Forensics League in Washington, DC, over Memorial Day Weekend.)
Junior Seth Bale earned a second-place trophy in oral interpretation/poetry
Senior Jackson Whallon did not complete, but presented in Humorous Interpretation.m

The next competition is on April 28th at Southern Lehigh High School, near Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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3600 Philadelphia Pike
Claymont, DE 19703
Phone: 302-798-6632
Fax: 302-798-7290

Archmere Academy is a private, Catholic, college preparatory co-educational academy,
grades 9-12 founded in 1932 by the Norbertine Fathers.