Students representing the Veterans Memorial High School Debate team are continuing a successful streak in the most recent winter competition. The competition was held at Wimberley High School on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
Among the events at the tournament were the Cross Examination (CX) Lincoln Douglas (LD) Debate, Extemporaneous Persuasive Speaking (EP), and Persuasive Debate.
Three of the team members who competed placed in various competitions and ranks.
Richard Lujan, a senior who attended Saturday’s competition, expressed excitement about his final placement after placing in the Extemporaneous Persuasive speaking competition. It’s been ten months since Lujan competed in this specific competition since Regional at USTA.
“I wasn’t expecting too much because it had been so long. The first two rounds, I wasn’t as confident as I swear I had used to be. I ended up placing third in the first round, second place in the second round and then I ended up making it to finals later in the day, which I was very excited about.”
Lujan placed fifth in the final round of the competition out of 23 people. He spoke for six minutes about whether or not Trump would be on the ballot or whether he would win the Republican primary.
“I find it funny that I placed fifth because the next day, Ronald DeSantis dropped out of the election,” said Lujan.
Jeneva Tupper, freshman, also participated and placed in Saturday’s competition. She competed in the Lincoln Douglas (LD) debate and won two of the three rounds she was in. Her topic was AI art. She had to write two separate speeches supporting both sides to prepare for the competition; one that supported the use of AI and the other that supported the side of literature.
Marley Scott, freshman, competed in Persuasive debate and placed second and seventh. To prepare, she had to write a seven-minute speech to present to a judge.
“I thought it went really well and I was happy with the results,” said Scott.
The Debate team is looking forward to their next competition, which will be held in April.
No Argument: VMHS Debate Team is a Competitive Community
February 2, 2024
Marley Scott, 9th, Jeneva Tupper, 9th, and Richard Lujan, 12th argued their way into the next round during the January 20th debate competition at Wimberley High School.
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Laura Meras, Staff Writer
Hi! My name is Laura Meras. It's my first year being part of the Yearbook and Newspaper staff. I'm looking forward to the experience I'll have these upcoming years. I'm a sophomore in the class of 2026. I've been playing the violin for five years and was recently selected to join the Varsity orchestra. Some hobbies of mine are reading, listening to music, thrifting, hanging out with friends, and looking for anything with Hello Kitty on it! I plan to go into journalism after high school and possibly pursue forensics.
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Hello! I'm Albert Feliciano Otero, and this is my first year in Yearbook and Newspaper. I am a junior graduating in 2025. I'm a part of the Fine Arts beat for The Patriot Voice and The Patriot Echo. I am the Command Sergeant Major for the VMHS Patriot Battalion JROTC. I enjoy playing basketball, football, baseball, volleyball and tennis. My friends are the highlights of my day; they allow me to push forward. I aspire to be a sports journalist and analyst in the future.