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Bellaire Cashes in at NFL Vegas Nationals Bellaire Debate participated in the 78th National Forensic League (NFL) National Speech & Debate tournament hosted by the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, Nevada June 15-20, 2008. Sophomore Louise Lu advanced to the final round of the John C. Stennis Student Congress. This is Louise's first trip to NFL Nationals. Senior Muthu Alagappan earned 11th place in United States Extemp. Muthu finished in the top 30 in the nation at the 2007 NFL Nationals. Matthew Liu and Jacob Uzman advanced to elimination rounds in policy debate and competed through round 9. Scott Lin and Xinxin Wang qualified for the national tournament and competed in policy debate. This tournament represents a fine ending to the 2007-2008 tournament season. 2008-2009 Bellaire Debate Officers Jacob Uzman President Matthew Liu Vice President Louise Lu Secretary Lara Brenner Treasurer John Wang Publicity Director William Hu Historian Liang Gu Press Release Devin Wang Social Coordinator Scott Lin CX Research Captain Wilma Qiu CX Research Captain Jacob Aronowitz CX Novice Captain Luther Fan CX Novice Captain Tanya Chen LD Captain Erik Nelson LD Captain Rohini Sigireddi LD Captain Bellaire Wins National Honors Again Bellaire High School participated in the 57th National Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament May 24-25 in Appleton, Wisconsin. The NCFL Grand National Tournament is the tournament that Bellaire co- hosted in 2007. Bellaire Debate was one of only five schools in the country to earn the Eleanor E. Wright Award of Excellence in Debate. All of our students who participated in Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas, and Public Forum debate earned sweepstakes points which determined the winners of this important award. Individual honors were earned by Muthu Alagappan who won 2nd place in the nation in Lincoln Douglas debate. Muthu was one ballot away from winning the national championship (3-2 decision in finals). Jacob Aronowitz and David Wang advanced to the quarterfinal round of policy debate. Jacob and David won their double octofinals and octofinals rounds before losing to LaSalle HS from Philadelphia that eventually finished second in the tournament. Scott Lin and Xinxin Wang also advanced to the double octofinals round. Bellaire last won the NCFL Excellence in Debate award in 2001. Bellaire NPPF National Champions Bellaire High School now has the number one debate team in the country after winning the finals in New York City this last weekend. The fourth time was the charm for Bellaire. After competing in the Bickel & Brewer/New York University National Public Policy Forum (NPPF) finals four consecutive years, the team Chris Fan, Chelsea Zhang, Andrew Garbarino, Shanna Chu, Jenny Fan, Satish Vemuri and Vijay Kasschau won first place in the national debate competition. The students were awarded $10,000 in scholarships and the "Bickel & Brewer Cup" at a special ceremony Saturday evening on the New York University campus. The NPPF is the only national contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in written and oral debates of public policy. This year's competition began in October when students from more than 100 high schools (representing 26 states) submitted case studies on this year's topic, "Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its AIDS/HIV public health assistance to Sub- Saharan Africa." From the original pool, sixteen advanced to a single elimination written debate tournament. These teams volleyed debates back and forth via e-mail, with judges narrowing the field to eight teams and then to four over a six month period. The Final Four teams competed this past weekend at NYU. Debate team coach Russell Rach said, "This is the fourth year Bellaire has gone to the finals in New York. We placed second last year, but our students were determined to win it all this year, and put in the extra time and effort to get there. I'm extremely proud of the accomplishments of our student debaters." The finals competition is a unique test of research and oral advocacy skills. On Saturday morning, the team presented their positions before a panel of judges that included some of the world's foremost experts in law, business and debate. The Bellaire team defeated the team from Kahuku, Hawaii in the semifinals and in the final round defeated the team from Colleyville, Heritage High School in Texas to take home the grand prize. For additional information and coverage see the Houston Chronicle and ABC 13 story from their websites. NFL District results April 24-26 Bellaire Debaters participated in the South Texas NFL speech/debate district tournament at Westside HS. Scott Lin & Xinxin Wang won 1st place in CX debate, Matt Liu & Jacob Uzman placed second in CX and Muthu Alagappan won 3rd place in United States Extemp. This will be Xinxin's second trip to the NFL National Speech and Debate Tournament and Muthu's third trip. The tournament will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada June 14-21. More Winners from Words That Shook the World Karthik Prasad won $7,000 in scholarships from the Science/Technology speaking contest sponsored by Sandia Laboratories and Words That Shook the World. Karthik's speech on nanotechnology earned him second place and a visit to Sandia Laboratories this summer. Grace Sun won $5,000 in scholarships in the Diversity contest sponsored by Lockheed Martin and Words That Shook the World. NFL District Student Congress April 5 The South Texas NFL district hosted its Student Congress qualifier at Clear Creek High School April 5. Louise Lu qualified for the NFL National Speech/Debate tournament by winning first place in House 2. Jacob Aronowitz earned 3rd place in House 1, UIL Spring Meet results March 27-28 Persuasive Speaking LD Muthu Alagappan 2nd place Dennis Wu 3rd place Celina Aldape 3rd place Rishi Shah 4th place Victorious at UIL CX State The University Interscholastic League (UIL) held its Cross Examination Debate State Tournament on the campus of the University of Texas March 14-15. Two Bellaire teams participated in the tournament and two teams placed. Matthew Liu & Jacob Uzman won 2nd place and Jenny Fan & Shubha Soman won 3rd place. It is the second time in four years that Bellaire Debaters have earned 2nd at the state tournament. The 3rd place finish marks the fourteenth time Bellaire Debaters have earned the achievement. TFA State results March 6-8 The Texas Forensic Association (TFA) state tournament was held March 6-8 in Dallas. The tournament started with an unexpected snow storm which cut short the first day of competition. In the end Wilma Qiu & Chelsea Zhang dropped in the partial triple octofinal round of CX debate and Grace Sun earned 9th place in Student Congress. Next year the TFA State tournament will be hosted in the Houston area. Bellaire Debaters advance to Final Four For the fourth consecutive year Bellaire Debaters will be participating in the Final Four of the National Public Policy Forum tournament sponsored by the Bickel & Brewer Law Firm. This year's team advanced by defeating Clear Lake High School in the quarterfinal round. Our students will receive an all expense paid trip to New York City April 25-27 to compete for the Bickel Brewer Cup and $10,000. Lamar HS tournament results February 8-9 CCX CLD Sean Chang/Tom Zhang 1st place Dennis Wu octofinals Meryl Nolan/Devin Wang 2nd place Rohini Sigireddi octofinals John Wang/Rockey Wu quarterfinals Jenny Fan/Shubha Soman quarterfinals Texas City HS tournament results February 1-2 CCX Meryl Nolan/Devin Wang 3rd place Kingwood HS tournament results February 1-2 CCX Henry Lu/Michael Feng 1st place Ruyi Yao/Judy Sun 3rd place Luther Fan/Rafael Go quarterfinals Eisenhower HS tournament results January 25-26 CCX CLD Sean Chang/Tom Zhang 3rd place Karthik Prasad 2nd place Essay Eden/Andrew Garbarino 3rd place Wolfgang Minskey quarterfinals Saloni Singh/Brendan Fradkin quarterfinals Wilma Qui/Chelsea Zhang quarterfinals Jenny Fan/Shubha Soman quarterfinals Ruyi Yao/Judy Sun octofinals Churchill HS tournament results January 18-19 CLD Muthu Alagappan quarterfinals Aldine HS tournament results January 18-19 CCX Student Congress Wilma Qiu/Chelsea Zhang 1st Place Louise Lu 4th place Jacob Aronowitz/David Wang 3rd Place Grace Sun 5th place CLD Kaylor Wright octofinals Grace Sun earns $3,750 scholarship Grace Sun earned a $3,750 scholarship by placing third in the Words That Shook the World contest. Her final speech was given on nationwide radio on the Air America radio network. Click here to listen to Grace's speech. Grace's speech examined racism in America. In addition to winning the scholarship, Grace will have the opportunity to appear on the Air America radio network on a weekly basis on a program called "Teen Clout" which is designed to give teens a way to share their views on the important issues of the day with a nationwide radio audience. The contest was being judged by Melissa Fitzgerald who plays Carol on The West Wing and Dr. Edgar Mitchell who was on the Apollo 14 mission. Dr. Mitchell was the 6th person to walk on the surface of the moon. Also judging the finals is Mark LeBlanc, the president of the National Speakers Association and Azah Awasum the 2006 winner of the Words that Shook the World contest. Melissa Fitzgerald Dr. Edgar Mitchell Mark LeBlanc Azah Awasum Katy HS tournament results January 11-12 3rd place Overall Sweepstakes CCX CLD Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah 1st place Karthik Prasad semifinals Erik Nelson octofinals Bellaire Debaters advance to Elite Eight of NPPC For the 4th consecutive year Bellaire Debaters have advanced to the Elite Eight round of the Bickel & Brewer National Public Policy Forum competition. Satish Vemuri, Jenny Fan, Shanna Chu, Andrew Garbarino, Chris Fan, Chelsea Zhang, and Saloni Singh worked together to produce the paper that defeated Coppell High School (from Dallas) on a 2-1 decision in the Sweet 16 round. Bellaire High School is the only school from those that participated in the Final Four from 2007 that still remains in competition for 2008. Bellaire will face Clear Lake High School in the Elite Eight round. Clear Lake defeated Henry Clay High School from Lexington, Kentucky in the Sweet 16 round. Bellaire defeated Henry Clay High School last year in the semifinal round of the NPPF. The NPPF is the only national contest that gives high school students the oppor- tunity to participate in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. The topic for this tournament is Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its AIDS/HIV public health assistance to Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 100 high schools from 26 states participated in the national competition. Westfield HS tournament results January 5-6 CCX CLD Scott Lin/Xinxin Wang 1st place Karthik Prasad semifinals Satish Vemuri/Vijay Kasschau 2nd place Muthu Alagappan quarterfinals Zexing Meng/Rishi Shah quarterfinals Rohini Sigireddi quarterfinals Matthew Liu/Jacob Uzman octofinals Thomas Lei octofinals Dennis Wu double octofinals NCX Sophee Gao/Wen Fang quarterfinals Public Forum Aryam Andom/Ngozi Lawanson semifinals Vijay Kasschau 2nd place Speaker Award CCX Thomas Lei 3rd place Speaker Award CLD WTSTW Semi-Finalists Six students from Bellaire High School advanced to the semifinal round of the Words That Shook the World contest. Katherine Freeman, Steven Maheshwary, Erik Nelson, Karthik Prasad, Grace Sun and Judy Sun advanced to the next level of the competition. Hundreds of students from across the country submitted speeches on the topic "My Message for America." Experts from the public speaking field will now review the speeches of each semifinalist. From the semifinal group 10 students will advance to the final round. Finalists are expected to be announced on Tuesday, January 15. The finalists will perform live on Richard Greene's radio program on Air America on Monday, January 21,2008. 2007-2008 Results & Stories from June, 2007-December, 2007 2006-2007 Results & Stories from November, 2006-June, 2007 2006-2007 Results & Stories from June, 2006-November, 2006 2005-2006 Results & Stories from Spring 2005-January, 2006 2005-2006 Results & Stories from January, 2006-March, 2006 2005-2006 Bellaire Debate Pictures 2006-2007 Bellaire Debate Pictures |
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| Ranked 1st in the nation out of 2,700 high schools by the National Forensic League 138 consecutive weeks |
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