San Dieguito Academy Foundation

Congratulations to the Mustang Speech and Debate team as they continue their successful season:

• USC Invitational Tournament: One Policy team and one Lincoln-Douglas debater received Double Octofinalist plaques. Megan Gaffney received the 3rd speaker award for Varsity Policy Debate.
• November Novice Debate Tournament: Individual speaker awards in Policy and Congress Debate, 1st place in Novice Policy Debate and advancement of teams to semi-finals in both Lincoln-Douglas and Parliamentary Debate.
• La Costa Canyon Winter Classic: Two policy debate teams entered the Octafinals with Megan Gaffney and Kianna Eberle advancing to Finals for a second place win and a coveted bid for entry into the National Tournament of Champions. Seven Lincoln-Douglas debaters from SDA entered the Double Octafinals with Cherise Lopes-Baker proceeding to Quarterfinals.

Upcoming Speech & Debate tournaments include the Cypress College Invitational Tournament and the Victory Briefs Tournament at UCLA, and additional tournaments are scheduled through the Spring. The SDA Debate team is always looking for volunteers to help with judging tournaments, and no prior experience is necessary.

As well, the team has been working to raise funds for tournament fees and related costs by holding a garage sale in November and selling key chains at the Encinitas Street Faire and other events. Any fundraising ideas or volunteer assistance would be appreciated by the team; if you are interested, contact the team’s parent representative Gail Slemon at 760-942-0433.

The SDA Speech and Debate team would like to give special thanks to Leslie Nesser, SDA Mustang Debate President, for speaking on behalf of the team at the SDA Foundation Tea and to the team’s dedicated tournament coach, Todd Newkirk.