Follow the Speech and Debate team’s journey to Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Missouri. They compete at their first overnight tournament following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Raj Jaladi, Newsletter Editor/Data Analyst
• November 6, 2023
Welcome to our newest podcast series, Pathfinder Debates, featuring two members who express their opinions on a political topic. In this episode, we explore the topic of gun control and gun safety.
Senior...
Tyler Kinzy, Managing Editor-in-Chief
• December 22, 2020
When the average American hears the word debate, they likely think of election season shouting matches that seem to focus on soundbites more than substance. Competitive speech and debate, however, is a...
Tyler Kinzy, Managing Editor-in-Chief
• September 11, 2019
It is the conversation that speech and debate coach Cara Borgsmiller is forced to have several times each season.
“I talk openly about it, especially the first time they get a ballot that says something...
Alumni Haran Kumar’s legacy will be integrated into the first speech and debate Eastern Missouri invitational tournament, hosted at Parkway West Oct. 12 and 13.
“We want to live the things that...
Tyler Kinzy, Managing Editor-in-Chief
• May 10, 2018
After posting a combined 13-1 record at the Eastern Missouri district tournament, junior Gokul Venkatachalam and senior Haran Kumar qualified for the 2018 National Speech & Debate Tournament in policy...
During the final weekend of January, Jefferson City High School hosted their annual debate tournament for teams all around the state.
“There was a bunch of different competition we normally don’t...
Over the course of three years, senior Ryan O'Connor has accomplished something that many debate students hope to achieve. He is the first student this year to be a Quad Ruby competitor, which means that...
While other students are busy cramming their AP government packets and Gatsby reading over summer break, senior Nick Bateman was researching TAU proteins and Alzheimer's disease at the labs in Washington...
With the post-season approaching, the Speech and Debate team has been preparing for the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) and Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) districts,...
![Juniors Rithvik Karthikeyan and Connor Olliff arrange trophies in the debate classroom after school Sept. 24. Olliff hopes that by replacing trophies with random objects, the team can best honor alumni Haran Kumar. "We’ve had to think about how we can better remember one of our graduates, and we want to hold [the tournament] in his honor," Olliff said. "We’re trying a lot harder to make it perfect this year so it’s in perfect remembrance of him."](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/DSC_0196-900x600.jpg)
![With a trophy in hand, speech and debate coach Cara Borgsmiller congratulates senior Cheryl Ma. She alongside fellow senior Ryan O'Connor qualified for the 2018 National Speech & Debate Tournament in public forum debate after going undefeated at the Eastern Missouri district tournament. “It was really exciting. It was different than it is for most people because Ryan and I were undefeated the whole tournament, so they decided [we qualified] automatically even before the actual awards were announced since we were the only undefeated team,” Ma said. “We found out before the actual awards ceremony, so it relieved a lot of pressure because usually people are very anxious during awards.”](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/DSC_0408-900x600.jpg)
![Freshmen Tyler Kinzy and Praveen Dharmavarapu work on their cases during free time in between rounds. Jefferson City High School hosted one of the last tournaments for debate teams around the state before districts. “I’ve done two tournaments so far and I’ve won first place at both of them, so it’s definitely been something surprising, especially to join this late in the season when everyone else has been [competing] for a while,” Kinzy said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/DSC_0752-900x600.jpg)
