Speech and Debate Team
The Walt Whitman Speech and Debate Team was recognized as one of the top 5 in the nation by both the Catholic Forensics League and the National Forensics League in the spring of 2009. The nationally acclaimed team is composed of over 100 members and was coached by Anjan Choudhury, who announced his resignation from the team in 2010. Choudhury coached at the Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas for a short period before leaving to join another law firm in Los Angeles. Ari Parker has now taken the position of Head Coach, and has led the team to numerous championships including the New York City Invitational, Valley, in Des Moines, Iowa, Columbia Invitational, The Glenbrooks, in Illinois, Greenhill, in Texas, Blake, in Minneapolis, and the prestigious MBA Round Robin. The team has also appeared in the final round at tournaments such as Harvard, Emory, and the prestigious Tournament of Champions. As the largest National Forensics League speech and debate chapter in the state of Maryland, the team strives to set a local and national precedent of top quality in performance, establishing a legacy of merit and distinction. The team attends around 3 local tournaments a month, coupled with around 30 travel tournaments spread all across the country throughout the year. In the 2009 Catholic Forensics League National Championship, a Walt Whitman student team was the runner-up in three different forensics categories. In 2010, Walt Whitman broke historical records by qualifying more than 20 debaters to the prestigious Tournament of Champions.
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Famous quotes containing the words speech and, speech, debate and/or team:
“We hear about constitutional rights, free speech and the free press. Every time I hear those words I say to myself, “That man is a Red, that man is a Communist.” You never heard a real American talk in that manner.”
—Frank Hague (1876–1956)
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“Is my team ploughing,
That I was used to drive
And hear the harness jingle
When I was man alive?”
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