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Hey, everyone!
Here’s the FIRST Robotics Team Paradox’s January Newsletter.
Thank you for reading.

Lonnie Safarik

Please be sure to see the photo album at the end of this article!

The SDA Speech and Debate has found great success in the year 2011. To wrap up the year, SDA first competed at the Novice League Debate at Helix High School in October. The combination of everyone’s hard work resulted in SDA’s first place in sweepstakes. In Policy Debate, partners Kira Gaby and Austin Ryan placed first, while Stacy Li and Johnny Menhennet took second. Keenan Rodewald and Delaney Duff took third place and Kevin Gallagher and Taylor Knudson placed sixth. In Lincoln Douglas debate, Riley Murphy won first place and Jake Hawkes took seventh.

Our second tournament was the Novice Speech Tournament at Mission Vista in November. Johnny Menhennet won third in International Extempt as Riley Murphy won second in Impromptu. Together, they won second place in Duo Interpretation. In Impromptu, Mason Bright placed third and Elizabeth Jacobson took sixth. Taylor Knudson won sixth place in Original Advocacy. Stacy Li won first in Original Prose and Poetry and placed sixth in Humorous Interpretation. SDA, as a whole, won 4th place sweepstakes.

Finally, SDA attended the San Diego Winter Classic at La Costa Canyon in December. In Varsity Policy Debate Michael Wimsatt and Elliot Horen made it to semifinals and Elliot Horen won first place speaker. In Varsity Lincoln Douglas debate, Cameron Koob made it to Octofinals. In speech, Aram Mahmoudzadeh won first in Impromptu. Stacy Li placed fifth in Humorous Interpretation (claiming a Tournament of Champions bid) and sixth in Original Prose and Poetry. Benjy Malings won seventh in Original Prose and Poetry and Maia Rosengarten placed fourth in Original Oratory (claiming a TOC bid.)

Elliot Horen and Michael Wimsatt competed in Varsity Policy Debate at the Meadows School Tournament where they received their second TOC bid. They are now qualified for the Tournament of Champions and are making plans to travel to the tournament in Kentucky at the end of April. They also made it to the quarterfinals at USC David Damus Trojan Championships, thus, earning their third TOC bid. All results for 2011 and 2012 are posted on the team’s website at www.sdadebate.org.

2011 might have ended, but the SDA Speech and Debate team still has many more tournaments to attend in 2012. We’d like to thank all the parent volunteers and our coach, Mrs. Barry, for making such a great year possible. We look forward to seeing all of you in 2012!

More photos at end of article!

In varsity speech, Aram Mahmoudzadeh won first in Impromptu and second as a Congress PO. Claire Li followed closely behind with a second in Impromptu and seventh in Congress while Lauren Nelson took eleventh in Congress. Shannon O’Donnell and Hannah Wolfe used their teamwork to achieve fourth in DUO. The competition was tough and our victories were hard won; good job Varsity Speech!

Yet there wasn’t any time to rest! The team quickly moved to conquer the CSUF Fall Fullerton Invitational. In Varsity Policy Debate; Michael Wimsatt and Elliot Horen took first place and earned a Tournament of Champions bid, while Jerry Jin and David Galloway made it to Octo Finals. Our novices worked just as hard as they did; with Delaney Duff and Kennan Rodewald taking second in Novice Policy Debate. Johnny Menhennet and Stacy Li, as well as Taylor Knudson Frisco and Jared Holguin all made it to Octo Finals. In Novice LD Debate, Jake Hawkes was our only Quarter finalist. However, the team still wasn’t finished!

SDA did an amazing job in Speech Events as well. Benjy Mailings was a finalist in both Original Prose and Poetry as well as Dramatic Interpretation. Lauren Nelson and Claire Li also were finalists in Original Prose and Poetry. Johnny Menhennet made it to Quarter Finals in Extemp. SDA did a wonderful job at this tournament, and yet our winning streak still hadn’t ended.

The most recent tournament the SDA Speech and Debate team attended was Novice League Debate on October 29th. SDA took first place Sweepstakes. But in order to win the tournament, we had to win our rounds first. SDA blew other schools out of the water in Policy Debate. Kira Gaby and Austin Ryan took first place with Stacy Li and Johnny Menhennet earning a close second. Keenan Rodewald and Delaney Duff moved in for third while Kevin Gallagher and Taylor Knudson Frisco placed sixth. In LD Debate, Riley Murphy took first place with Jake Hawkes taking seventh. Great job SDA!

Even in light of our recent achievements — either individually or as a team — there are two that we’d like to specially acknowledge. Michael Wimsatt and Elliot Horen are going to the TOC, or, Tournament Of Champions. This is a very prestigious tournament; all competing members must receive an invitation to go. This is an annual tournament held in Kentucky, and Michael and Elliot have the honor of being the second team in California and the nineteenth team in the nation to be eligible to attend this year.

In order for one to receive an invitation, they must have won two bids. In other words, they must have made it to a certain point for each tournament. At Fullerton, the requirement was met when they surpassed semi-finals and was met again at the Meadows Invitational in Las Vegas when they made it to quarter finals. We applaud the success and dedication of Michael and Elliot and wish them the best of luck at the TOC.

Overall, it was a great — if exhausting — effort that truly showed the capabilities and potential of our team! We’d like to thank everyone for their time and commitment; especially parents who judged and/or drove. It wouldn’t have been possible without you. Good job Speech and Debate! Keep up the excellent work!

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Lonnie Mae Safarik

FIRST Robotics Team Paradox 2102
Team Paradox Secretariat
(760) 594-4033

The freshmen team powered through while showing promise and development for future participation. As for junior varsity, the team’s electrifying defeat of CCA highlighted the season and made it one of the most exciting in many years. Varsity team members finished their Mustang Minds careers with a bang, and we will dearly miss the seniors’ sense of humor, expansive knowledge, and bright personalities. Thank you for all the unforgettable memories you’ve shared with us!

The three teams came together for an end of the season party hosted at the beautiful home of the MacGregor family. Yogi’s Beach Café generously donated salads, pastas, and breadsticks. We even threw Mr. Santos, varsity coach, into the pool. Needless to say, the party went swimmingly.

The SDA Mustang Minds team would like to thank everyone who has made this season so great. We would have been lost without the guidance of our fantastic coaches Linda Hauck, Scott Huntley, and Michael Santos. Through their pre-game words of encouragement, unforgettable team-bonding moments, and endless reading of practice questions, they helped us become a smarter and stronger team and we all had lots of fun along the way.

This season would not have been possible without the generous support of team sponsors Qualcomm, Viasat, and Yogi’s. We are beholden to them for their continuous support of our team, which enables us to compete in academic league matches.

Finally, we would like to emphasize our gratitude to all of the team parents, for their faithful support both at and outside of the games. We could not have gotten by without them.

Written by Students Angela Zhang and Lindsey Agnew.