On Saturday, November 12th, students from different schools arrived at West High to participate in a Speech and Debate Tournament. The students had one goal in mind: to win and take trophies home to their schools. During the tournaments, students spoke and debated about current issues that related to government.  
   With excited and eager faces, students roamed around the school to find the different classrooms in which they would debate. Speech and Debate Coach Mrs. Hastings commented, “Even though it takes a lot of work to run a tournament, I always want to see West High try their best and win for the team.” Mrs. Hastings is one of the many coordinators for the debate tournaments. As soon as the tournament started, West High scurried with their notes to the classrooms in hopes of impressing the judges and receiving high rankings. When awards were given out, West High came out on top with the most points. Jessica Ho (11) remarked, “Debate takes up a lot of time and effort. But when you win a trophy, you feel that all your hard work ahs paid off.” With smiles and high-fives, West was definitely pumped up to finish the day on a high note.
   After students came back from their last rounds, awards were given out to the undefeated teams. Daniel Barrett (10) and Mani Wullscheleger (11) were announced as the winners from West High! As soon as people started to clap, the two jumped up and down in pure excitement and ran up to receive their trophies. Wullscheleger remarked, “I was just so happy that we won, because we are a Novice Team! The most surprising fact was that because we were undefeated, we beat Peninsula as well.” Peninsula had gone and competed in state tournaments, making their school the best in the league. Barrett and Wullscheleger were extremely happy in their win, and are excited to compete in future debates.
   With a long Saturday of competing, the West High Speech and Debate team is full of smiles. The dedication that is put forth from this team is apparent, because of the multiple practices and restless Saturdays. With self-motivation and dedication, this team is always ready to compete.