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Oakwood High speech and debate program crowns state champions, launches junior-high track
Summary
Linda Lee said Oakwood High's speech and debate team won the OSDA state title, named co-champions, and is launching a junior-high program while qualifying a record 37 students for the high-school state tournament.
Linda Lee, a junior-high math teacher and co-adviser of Oakwood High School’s speech and debate team, described the program’s recent competitive successes and plans for expansion, saying the activity helps students develop “critical thinking, research, and communication skills.”
Lee said the team made Oakwood history last year by earning the OSDA state championship and named co-state champions Tristan Williams and Robert Einhorn. She also said captains Anna Peters and Abby Saxon have launched the district’s first junior-high program to give younger students earlier access to competitive debate and public speaking.
The program’s current accomplishments include what Lee described as a record qualification: “This year, we have qualified a record breaking 37 students to the high school state tournament.” Lee said the team traveled in March to Canfield for competition and will represent Oakwood at the national tournament in Richmond this summer.
Lee credited the students’ dedication and community support for the program’s growth and said the junior-high track is intended to build skills earlier so students are ready for high-school competition. “As our students find their voices through speech and debate, they are embodying key characteristics of an Oakwood learner,” she said.
The presentation did not include funding details, selection criteria for the junior-high entrants, or the exact slate of events Oakwood will enter at the national tournament; those details were not specified in the remarks and would need to be confirmed with program staff.
