OCTOBER 2016
SECONDARY SCHOOL NEWS & EVENTS
Strong Start for APIS Forensics Team
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By Sarah McRoberts, High School English Teacher and Debate Coach
orensics is off to a great start! Mr. Sgrignoli (speech coach) and Ms. McRoberts (debate coach) have both been impressed by how motivated the students are to improve their craft and mastery this year. The skills students learn at KAIAC (Korean-American Interscholastic Activities Conference) competitions help in all facets of learning, as Cathy Lim, debate team co-captain, explains: “After multiple years of participating in debate, I realized how much debating helps in real-life situations. Often times, we hold a narrow view regarding controversial issues or arguments. Debate opens you up to different arguments that arise from various perspectives. Doing debate expands the depth and breadth of not only your knowledge, but your perspective, which is why I recommend it to others who are considering doing public speaking!” APIS faced its first competition on Oct. 15-16 at YISS. Both teams exceeded the coaches’ goals. We have had more student leadership, which fosters team camaraderie. Angelina Ahn, debate team co-captain, sums up her role: “Debate is one of the areas that I’ve persistently worked on because I had a great passion for it. I believe my biggest goal as captain is to encourage the team to push forward. This year we have many novice debaters and it’s easy to get discouraged at the tough competitions that have been scheduled throughout the year. On the other hand, the team is performing exceptionally well, with all debaters getting at least two wins at our recent tournament at YISS.” Every debate team had over 2 wins (at least a 50 percent win-loss record) with a combined team total of 16 team wins! Speech Results Award Winners: Shannon Yi (G12), 1st place, Prose Interpretation Richard Jo and Gia Kim (G11), 4th place, Duo Interpretation Debate Results Award Winners: Angelina Ahn and Cathy Lim (G12), semi-finalists in Public Forum Henry Kim and John Cheng (G10), 5th place in Public Forum Claire Lee (G10), 6th place in Lincoln-Douglas Best Speaker Round Winners: Angelina Ahn (G12)- Public Forum Cathy Lim (G12) - Public Forum Cole Kim (G11) - Parliamentary Procedure Tommy Lee (G11) - Parliamentary Procedure Sophie Yoo (G11) - Public Forum Henry Kim (G10) - Public Forum Categories and students who represented APIS over the weekend: Speech: Prose: Shannon Yi, Rose Lee Poetry: Jeff Kim, HJ Hong, Andrew Kim Duo: Richard Jo and Gia Kim Debate: Public Forum: Angelina Ahn and Cathy Lim; Sophie Yoo and Claire Shin; John Cheng and Henry Kim Parliamentary Procedure: Tommy Lee and Max Park; Cole Kim and James Park Lincoln-Douglas: Claire Lee Our next KAIAC tournament is Nov. 14-15 at SIS.
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