The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder
The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder
The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder

Debate diaries: A vlog journey

Sravya Reddy Guda and Triya Gudipati • March 20, 2024

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.

Senior Chris Gray and senior Max Brophy get ready to face off in their debate on gun control in America. Both of them have been discussing political issues since middle school history class. “I think it’s important to have these difficult conversations so that we can all learn from each other on important issues,” Gray said.

Pathfinder Debates: Gun control

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...

Speech and Debate

Speech and Debate

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...

Making final adjustments during practice, junior Fatema Rehmani prepares for the Randy Pierce Winter Classic at Pattonville High School Dec. 7, 2018. Rehmani competed in Program Oral Interpretation, an event in which students incorporate various selections of literature into a 10 minute performance. “This year, I explored some different events in speech and debate, and I’m so grateful for all of the various experiences I’ve gained,” Rehmani said. “But I have noticed there are definitely expectations for certain events or debate in regards to whether it’s for guys or for girls, which is sometimes limiting and frustrating.”

Sexism in speech and debate: competitive speakers’ fight for their voice

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...

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."

Speech and debate team honors Haran Kumar through tournament

Kathryn McAuliffe, Managing Editor-in-Chief • October 2, 2018

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...

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.”

Four students prepare for upcoming National Speech & Debate Tournament

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...

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.

Freshman Tyler Kinzy goes undefeated in debate

Nayeon Ryu, Video Editor • February 23, 2018

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...

Preparing for a round with his debate partner Cheryl Ma, senior Ryan O’Connor studies information he has researched. Being partners for only one year, they placed first in districts and went to Nationals in the 2016-2017 school year. “Cheryl is the love of my life. She has made it bearable. Working with her has helped me re-find my passion,” O’Connor said.

Senior Ryan O’Connor reaches 1,000 debate points after three years

Katie Spillman, PHOTO EDITOR • November 17, 2017

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...

“WUSTL has an amazing lab, and I’m so grateful that I was given the opportunity to use and research in it,” senior Nick Bateman said.

Nick Bateman’s research at WUSTL

Maddie Cooke, STAFF WRITER • September 12, 2017

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...

Practicing for her poetry event at the Jefferson City Invitational, held Jan. 28 through 29, junior Khushali Sarnot recites her piece to sophomores Kristina Humphrey and Nina Maitra.

Debate team prepares for Districts

Anjali Shah, Staff Writer • February 14, 2017

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,...

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