Events
Upcoming Events:
AGHS Speech 2023-2024 Upcoming Tournament/Event Schedule
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- TCFL Open Debate - January 13th, Hart High School
- NSDA Springboard Capstone Tournament - January 20th, NSDA Campus
- TCFL Congressional Debate - January 27th, La Reina High School
- TCFL Individual Events - February 3rd, West Ranch High School
2023-2024 Tri County Forensics League Competition Calendar - 2023-2024 Calendar
Practice:
Mondays and Wednesdays after school in room 401
(new students will need to register for a Tabroom account and a NSDA account please use a personal, non-school email).Please email Coach Ryan to link your account to Arroyo Grande High School.
Policy Debate
2023-2024 Topic:
Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase fiscal redistribution in the United States by adopting a federal jobs guarantee, expanding Social Security, and/or providing a basic income.
The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) handles selection of the annual topic. Each state organization, the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA), the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL), and the National Debate Coaches Association (NDCA) all have voting privileges. The national office submits one vote on behalf of the NSDA. Each chapter advisor may cast a ballot online from September-October, ranking five preliminary topics. In November-December, each advisor then selects one of two final topics. The national office tallies the results and submits one vote to the NFHS. The new topic is announced in early January.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate
2024 January/February Topic
Resolved: The United States ought to substantially reduce its military presence in the West Asia-North Africa region.
2023 November/December Topic
Resolved: The United States ought to prohibit the extraction of fossil fuels from federal public lands and waters.
2023 September/October Topic
Resolved: The United States ought to guarantee the right to housing.
Novice Topic:
Resolved: In the United States, national service ought to be mandatory.
New this year, chapter advisors and member students will vote for each topic one week prior to the topic release date. The three topics that will be voted on for each topic cycle are released on June 22. Topic voting for the September/October topic opens on August 1.
If you would like to submit an LD resolution for consideration, please submit by June 1 for the following school year.
In addition, we have established a separate LD resolution for the first two months of the novice season. Coaches are encouraged to check with tournament hosts in their area before exclusively prepping for one topic over another.
Public Forum Debate
2024 February Topic
Resolved: The United States federal government should ban single-use plastics.2024 January Topic
Resolved: The United States federal government should repeal Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.2023 November/December Topic
Resolved: The United States federal government should forgive all federal student loan debt.2023 September/October Topic
The United States federal government should substantially increase its military presence in the Arctic.
The PF Wording Committee chooses a number of debate topic areas and resolutions that fit within those topic areas at its summer meeting. These areas are then used throughout the school year. During the last week of the month (or seven days prior to the topic release date), chapter advisors and member students may vote for one resolution to be used as the next PF topic.
The first two Public Forum topics are two-month topics in September/October and November/December, and then it reverts to a month-to-month topic. This schedule benefits novices who have more time to learn and improve their skills without switching topics.
Big Questions Debate
2023-2024 Topic
Resolved: Belief in the supernatural is incompatible with belief in science.
2022-2023 Topic
Resolved: Humans are primarily driven by self-interest.
2021-2022 Topic:
Resolved: On balance, societies benefit from religious belief and practice.
2020-2021 Topic:
Resolved: Mathematics was discovered, not invented.
2022-23 Competition Results:
Two of our students will compete at the NSDA National Tournament, June 12th to 16th in Phoenix, AZ
- Zivah Hartman competed in Original Spoken Word Poetry and Impromptu
Lily Klapper competed in the Lions Club District speaking competition on Saturday, May 6th in Oxnard.
Amelie Moustirats competed in the Optimist Club speaking competition on Saturday, May 6th in Oxnard.
CHSSA State Championships, April 21st to 23rd at Carlsbad HS
- Brynn Termeer and Zivah Hartman competed in Duo Interpretation
Lily Klapper competed in the Lions Club Regional speaking competition on Monday, April 10th. Lily took top honors (and $250) and moves on to the next level of competition speaking on the topic "Social Media: Connects Us or Isolates Us?”. Lily competes next in the District Student Speaker Contest on Saturday, May 6th in Oxnard.
TCFL Speech Qualifier, March 17-18th at Burbank HS
- Brynn Termeer and Zivah Hartman, 5th Place in Duo Interpretation, qualifying to the State Tournament
- Zivah Hartman competed in Impromptu
NSDA Speech & Debate Qualifier, March 5th at Crescenta Valley High School
- Brynn Termeer and Zivah Hartman competed in Duo Interpretation
- Ashley Illescas competed Lincoln Douglas Debate
TCFL Congressional Debate Qualifier, March 4th at SOCES (Sherman Oaks)
- Brynn Termeer, 14th Place
Our competitors discussed an Sexual Education, elimination of Commercial Parking requirements, Geothermal Energy, investing in Namibia's oil industry and increasing diversity visas in immigration policy.
Two of our students competed in the Lions Club speaking competition on February 28th. Taking top honors was Lily Klapper (and $150) who will move on to the next level of competition. Journey Simunich also spoke on the topic "Social Media: Connects Us or Isolates Us?” and took Second Place. Lily will compete at the Regional Student Speaker Contest on Monday, April 10th.
La Reina Invitational, February 19th at Cal Lutheran University
- Brynn Termeer and Zivah Hartman, 3-1 in Parliamentary debate, losing in Semi-Finals
TCFL Open Speech, February 4th at Taft High School
- Zivah Hartman, 2nd Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr): (tied for 1st but losing the tie breaker)
- Lily Klapper, 10th Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
- Zivah Hartman and Brynn Termeer, 2nd Place in Duo Interpretation
Four of our students competed in the Arroyo Grande Lions Club speaking competition on Wednesday, February 1st. Taking top honors was Lily Journey Simunich (and $100) who will move on to the next level of competition. Brynn Termeer, Bas Vink and Leah Bozzano also spoke on the topic "Social Media: Connects Us or Isolates Us?". Journey will move on to the Zone Student Speaker Contest on Tuesday, February 28th.
TCFL Congressional Debate, January 28th
- Brynn Termeer 5th Place, JV Division
Our competitor discussed food deserts, converting to the metric system, funding a trans-African Highway, puppy mills, foreign language incentivization and a prohibition on tackling in football and rugby.
Three of our students competed in the Pismo Beach Lions Club speaking competition on Tuesday, January 24th. Taking top honors was Lily Klapper (and $100) who will move on to the next level of competition. Orion Schmidt and Shane Moncrief also spoke on the topic "Social Media: Connects Us or Isolates Us?". Lily will move on to the Zone Student Speaker Contest on Tuesday, February 28th.
TCFL Open Speech, December 17th
- Lily Klapper, 5th Place Original Oratory (tied for 2nd but losing the tie breaker)
- Zivah Hartman, 8th Place Spontaneous Argumentation
- Brynn Termeer, 11th Place Spontaneous Argumentation
- Zivah Hartman, 12th Place Impromptu Speaking
- Zivah Hartman and Brynn Termeer, 3rd Place Duo Interpretation
NSDA Springboard Capstone, December 3rd (on Zoom)
- Zivah Hartman, 1st Place Original Spoken Word Poetry
- Lily Klapper, 1st Place Original Oratory
TCFL Open Debate, November 19th
- Sandy Peterson and Lucas Havemose, 2-1 in Public Forum debate
- Brynn Termeer - Zivah Hartman and Ashley Illescas - Ethan Weller also competed in Public Forum
TCFL Congressional Debate, November 5th (on Zoom)
- Paul Green 1st Place, Varsity Division (House 2)
- Sandy Peterson, 2nd Place, Varsity Division (House 1)
- Zoe Lodge, Presiding Officer
Our competitors discussed changing the observation of Halloween, performance enhancing drugs, banning no bid contracts, combatting piracy through letters of marque, abolishing the US Citizenship and Immigration Bureau and repealing the 2nd Amendment.
TCFL Novice Speech, October 29th
- Zivah Hartman and Brynn Termeer, 1st Place Duo Interpretation
- Zivah Hartman, 2nd Place Spontaneous Argumentation
- Lily Klapper, 7th Place Spontaneous Argumentation
- Brynn Termeer, 9th Place Spontaneous Argumentation
- Lily Klapper, 4th Place Original Oratory
TCFL Novice Debate, October 22rd (on Zoom)
- Zivah Hartman and Jazmin Valdez competed in Public Forum debate
TCFL Congressional Debate, October 8th
- Paul Green 5th Place, Varsity Division
- Brynn Termeer 5th Place, Novice Division
- Sandy Peterson, Presiding Officer
Our competitors discussed mandatory kindergarten, lowering the drinking age to 18, ending the war on drugs, improving electric grid storage, ending American imperialism and medical autonomy for teenagers.
2021-22 Competition Results:
Two of our students competed in the NSDA National Tournament
- Virgil Andreasen competed in Storytelling and Prepared Prompt.
- Sandy Peterson competed in Storytelling.
The Lions Club Area speaking competition was held on Saturday, May 7th. Lily Klapper competed in the competition.
The Optimist Club Regional Oratorical speaking competition was held Sunday, May 1st. Virgil Andreasen competed in the competition.
CHSSA State Championships, April 29th to May 1st
- Virgil Andreasen and Bella Vangelos competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking
- Paul Green competed in Congressional Debate
- Daniel Dixon competed in Humorous Interpretation
Lily Klapper competed in the Lions Club District speaking competition on Saturday, April 23rd. Lily took top honors (and a $4500 scholarship) and moves on to the next level of competition speaking on the topic "How Can Kindness Reunite Our Country". Lily competes next in the Area Student Speaker Contest on Saturday, May 7th in Camarillo.
Lily Klapper competed in the Lions Club Regional speaking competition on Wednesday, April 6th. Lily took top honors (and $250) and moves on to the next level of competition speaking on the topic "How Can Kindness Reunite Our Country". Lily competes next in the District Student Speaker Contest on Saturday, April 23th in Camarillo.
NSDA Speech & Debate Qualifier, March 19th and 20th (on Zoom)
- Sandy Peterson and Lucas Havemose competed in Policy Debate
- Virgil Andreasen and Bella Vangelos competed International Extemporaneous Speaking
- Richie Bozzano competed in National Extemporaneous Speaking
TCFL Bernabei Award Winners 2021-2022
- Virgil Andreasen
- Lucas Havemose
- Bella Vangelos
- Richard Bozzano
TCFL Speech Qualifier, March 11-12th (on Zoom)
- Virgil Andreasen, 3rd Place in International Extemporaneous Speaking, qualifying to the State Tournament
- Bella Vangelos, 7th Place in International Extemporaneous Speaking, qualifying to the State Tournament
- Daniel Dixon, 5th Place in Humorous Interpretation, qualifying to the State Tournament
- Virgil Andreasen, Semi-Finalist Impromptu
- Bella Vangelos, Semi-Finalist Impromptu
- Richie Bozzano, Semi-Finalist Impromptu
- Richie Bozzano, competed in International Extemporaneous Speaking
Two of our students competed in the Lions Club speaking competition on Sunday, March 6th. Taking top honors was Lily Klapper (and $150) who will move on to the next level of competition. Zoe Lodge also spoke on the topic "How Can Kindness Reunite Our Country" and took Second Place. Lily will move on to the Regional Student Speaker Contest on Wednesday, April 6th.
TCFL Congressional Debate Qualifier, March 5th (on Zoom)
- Paul Green 11th Place, qualifying to the State Tournament
- Richie Bozzano 15th Place
- Zoe Lodge, Presiding Officer - 2nd Place
Our competitors discussed an Olympic boycott, Nuclear Power, Repealing SB 1383, prohibiting
sentencing juvenile offenders as adults and the Anti-Retail Theft Act.
sentencing juvenile offenders as adults and the Anti-Retail Theft Act.
TCFL Debate Qualifier, February 26th (on Zoom)
- Sandy Peterson and Lucas Havemose qualified in Policy debate
- Virgil Andreasen competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate
- Zoe Lodge and Paul Green, competed in Public Forum debate
Four of our students competed in the Arroyo Grande Lions Club speaking competition on Wednesday, February 16th. Taking top honors was Zoe Lodge (and $100) who will move on to the next level of competition. Milan Chhetri, Amelie Moustirats and Jessica Arcangel also spoke on the topic "How Can Kindness Reunite Our Country.". Zoe will move on to the Zone Student Speaker Contest on Sunday, March 6.
Four of our students competed in the Pismo Beach Lions Club speaking competition on Tuesday, February 8th. Taking top honors was Lily Klapper (and $100) who will move on to the next level of competition. Richie Bozzano, Dana Petker and Sofia Kardel also spoke on the topic "How Can Kindness Reunite Our Country.". Lily will move on to the Zone Student Speaker Contest on Sunday, March 6.
TCFL Open Speech, February 5th (on Zoom)
- Richie Bozzano, 1st Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
- Lucas Havemose, 7th Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
TCFL Congressional, January 29th (on Zoom)
- Paul Green 2nd Place, Novice Division
- Richie Bozzano, (Varsity House 1) Judges' Top JV Competitor
- Lucas Havemose, Presiding Officer
Our competitors discussed banning assault weapons, gender-neutral toy aisles, providing pregnancy-related services at prisons with female inmates, scientific research integrity, the California Gann Limit and removing Cuban restrictions.
TCFL Open Debate, January 15th (on Zoom)
- Liora Nunley and Richie Bozzano, 1-2 in Parliamentary debate
- Bella Vangelos and Lucas Havemose, 1-2 in Parliamentary debate
- Virgil Andreasen, 1-2 in Lincoln-Douglas debate
La Reina Invitational, December 19th (on Zoom)
- Zoe Lodge and Paul Green, 3-1 in Public Forum debate
Lucas Havemose, Sandy Peterson and Coach Ryan judged.
TCFL Open Speech, December 18th (on Zoom)
- Zoe Lodge, 8th Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
- Lucas Havemose, 9th Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
Springboard Capstone, December 4th (on Zoom)
- Liora Nunley competed in Storytelling
TCFL Open Debate, November 20th (on Zoom)
- Sandy Peterson and Lucas Havemose, 3-0 (and top speaking team) in Public Forum debate
- Liora Nunley and Richie Bozzano, 2-1 in Parliamentary debate
- Gabriella Gebhardt and Virgil Andreasen, 2-1 in Parliamentary debate
- Zoe Lodge and Paul Green, competed in Public Forum debate
- Brynn Termeer and Emme Landers competed in Parliamentary debate
- Bella Vangelos and Ethan Weller competed in Parliamentary debate
Our Parliamentary competitors discussed whether a popular vote election should replace the electoral college, whether any countries ought to possess nuclear weapons and whether drug addicts deserve punishment or rehabilitation.
TCFL Congressional Debate, November 13th (on Zoom)
- Sandy Peterson, 2nd Place, Varsity Division (House 2)
- Virgil Andreasen 4th Place, Varsity Division (House 1)
- Paul Green 1st Place, Novice Division (House 1)
- Isabella Vangelos 5th Place, Novice Division (House 1)
- Richie Bozzano 1st Place, Novice Division (House 2)
- Zoe Lodge 3rd Place, Novice Division (House 2)
- Journey Simunich 4th Place, Novice Division (House 2)
- Lucas Havemose, Presiding Officer
Our competitors discussed mandating COVID vaccinations in public school, phasing out the Federal use of private prisons, creating a United States stable coin, reforming California’s Gubernatorial recall election process, banning legacy admissions to colleges and banning the manufacture of aircraft carriers.
TCFL Novice Speech, October 30th (on Zoom)
- Daniel Dixon, 1st Place in Original Prose and Poetry
- Liora Nunley, 1st Place in Storytelling
- Zoe Lodge, 2nd Place in Original Oratory
- Richie Bozzano, 4th Place in Impromptu Speaking
- Richie Bozzano, 1st Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
- Liora Nunley, 3rd Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
- Bella Vangelos, 5th Place in Spontaneous Argumentation (SpAr)
TCFL Novice Debate, October 23rd (on Zoom)
- Liora Nunley and Richie Bozzano, 3-0 in Parliamentary debate
- Zoe Lodge and Paul Green, 2-1 in Public Forum debate
- Brynn Termeer and Bella Vangelos competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate
Our Parliamentary competitors discussed whether social media networking sites have been good for society, whether adolescents ought to have the right to make autonomous medical choices and if the United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of outer space research and technology.
TCFL Congressional Debate, October 9th (on Zoom)
- Virgil Andreasen 5th Place, Varsity Division (top ranked JV competitor)
- Paul Green 4th Place, Novice Division (House 1)
- Isabella Vangelos 5th Place, Novice Division (House 1)
- Sherry Andrawes, 4th Place, Novice Division (House 2)
- Zoe Lodge 5th Place, Novice Division (House 2)
- Sandy Peterson, Presiding Officer
Our competitors discussed marijuana legalization/decriminalization, a transcontinental water pipeline, a wealth tax to fund Covid recovery, desalination with nuclear power, travel restrictions to states with abortion restrictions and reform for civil forfeiture.
Damien HS Invitational Tournament, October 2-3
- Sandy Peterson and Lucas Havemose competed in Policy Debate in perso
2020-21 Competition Results:
Results from the NSDA Nationals 6/14-18
- Virgil Andreasen competed in the Pro/Con Challenge and Prepared Commentary.
The Optimist Club Regional Oratorical speaking competition was held Sunday, May 2nd. Journey Simunich competed in the competition.
The Lions Club District speaking competition was held Saturday, May 1st. Virgil Andreasen competed in the competition.
The 5 Cities Optimist Club Oratorical speaking competition was held Sunday, March 21st. Taking 2nd place was Journey Simunich speaking to the prompt: "Healing the world with optimism."
The Arroyo Grande Lions Club Zone speaking competition was held Tuesday, March 16. Taking top honors (and $150) was Virgil Andreasen who will move on to the next level of competition (Region) which will take place on April 6th.
Results from the West LA National Qualifier, March 14th:
- Virgil Andreasen competed in Congressional Debate
Results from TCFL Congressional Debate Qualifier, March 6th:
- Semi-Finalist: Virgil Andreasen and Lucas Havemose
Our competitors discussed mosquito sterilization, nuclear power, anti-trust reform, the California Economic Recovery Act, protection of the freedom of association and thought and combatting gentrification.
Five of our students competed in the Arroyo Grande Lions Club speaking competition on Wednesday, March 3rd. Taking top honors was Virgil Andreasen (and $100) who will move on to the next level of competition. Emily Libal, Lucas Havemose, Journey Simunich and Skye Fernsler also spoke on the topic "Distance and Online Learning — Pros and Cons".
Three of our novice competitors took part in an Open (Varsity) competition on February 20th:
- Virgil Andreasen competed in Spontaneous Argumentation and Impromptu
- Jade Webber and Samantha Ryan competed in Storytelling
Results from Congressional Debate, January 30th:
- Virgil Andreasen 1st Place, Novice Division
- Sandy Peterson 2nd Place, JV Division
- Lucas Havemose 3rd Place, JV Division
- Milan Chhetri, 4th Place, JV Division
- Samantha Ryan also competed in Novice Congress
Our competitors discussed Repealing CDA Section 230, Solar Farms, Ranked Choice Voting, DC Statehood, Solitary Confinement and Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccinations.
Three of our novice competitors took part in an Open (Varsity) competition on December 19th:
- Virgil Andreasen and Samantha Ryan competed in Spontaneous Argumentation and Impromptu
- Jade Webber and Samantha Ryan competed in Storytelling
Results from Open Debate, November 21st:
- Emily Libal, 2-1, Lincoln-Douglas Debate
Our competitor debated the merits of compulsory voting in a democracy.
Results from Congressional Debate, November 14th:
- Milan Chhetri, 3rd Place, JV Division
- Virgil Andreasen 2nd Place, Novice Division
- Tracy Wang and Samantha Ryan competed in Novice Congress
Our competitors discussed prohibiting the use of Tik Tok in the US, reforming Election Voting Day, affordable Internet Service, Federal involvement in cannabis regulation, price regulation of the dairy industry and subsidies of the fossil fuel industry.
Three of our novice competitors took part in a competition on October 24th:
- Virgil Andreasen competed in Lincoln-Douglas debate
- Jade Webber and Samantha Ryan competed in Parliamentary debate
Results from Congressional Debate, October 10th:
- Sandy Peterson, 1st Place, JV Division
- Milan Chhetri, 5th Place, JV Division
- Virgil Andreasen, 5th Place, Novice Division
- Samantha Ryan competed in Novice Congress
Our competitors spoke on reforming Supreme Court confirmations, Universal Basic Income, recognition of Palestine, Universal Preschool, Tax Reform and Forced Labor.
2023-2024 Club Leadership - Brynn Termeer, Zivah Hartman and Ashley Illescas-Zappariello, "This is not a Democracy!"
Head Coach - Chris Ryan [email protected]
Assistant Coach - Ashley Sarmento [email protected]
Make sure to follow us on Instagram
We have a Google Classroom
Join our discourse on Group.Me (Coach Ryan can add you)