Throughout April, The Village School’s Speech and Debate Team saw great successes at two large tournaments – their Space City District tournament, and the Tournament of Champions. 

From Tuesday, April 6, 2021, to Saturday, April 10, 2021, The Village High School competed at the Space City District tournament, where students from across the district were attempting to qualify for the esteemed National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) tournament. Viking competitors found great success, attaining the awards below:

Original Oratory

• Champion – Kahani Malhotra
• 2nd – Caroline Hsu
• 4th – Aditi Iyer

Program Oral Interpretation

• 5th – Aditi Iyer

Informative Speaking

• 3rd – Kahani Malhotra

Dramatic Interpretation

• 4th – Caroline Hsu

Senate

• 3rd – Alexander Ilacqua
• 4th – Parth Gupta

House

• 7th – Rohan Bendapudi

LD Debate

• Champion – Regina Blenda
• 4th – Jay Natarajan

“My experience competing at more selective tournaments was great,” said sophomore Congressional Debate competitor Ilacqua. “It allowed me to compete among some of the best debaters in the nation, something I would not be able to do in normal years. It was also a really awesome learning experience.”

Additionally, from Saturday, April 17, 2021, to Monday, April 19, 2021, these dedicated students also competed at the selective University of Kentucky Tournament of Champions (UKTOC). After days of intense competition, the following students were recognized for their achievements:

Original Oratory

• Quarterfinalist – Aditi Iyer
• Quarterfinalist – Kahani Malhotra

Congressional Debate

• Quarterfinalist – Alexander Ilacqua

“I believe that students are adapting well to the online environment of Speech and Debate since we’ve had to compete in this environment for a year now,” said sophomore Jay Natarajan, a competitor in LD Debate. “With that being said, I’m sure other students (including myself) would love to relive the experience of in-person tournaments again, as they are missed a lot!”