The debate team has qualified for the National Finals after winning their 5th tournament at USC. From February 22nd to 24th, the varsity team, Desiree Delgadillo and Daniel Medina, and the JV team, Logan Gonzalez and Martin Saenz, were selected as two of the top 8 teams out of all LA schools to compete in qualifiers for two spots to nationals.
The Novice team, Jazmin Prado and Monse Bucio Mondragon, earned 1st place and won all four rounds.
Daniel and Desiree will represent LA schools at the National Urban Debate Championships in Chicago on April 11-14th.
“We are preparing, making sure we have everything right to the smallest detail,”
said Daniel Medina in regards to the preparation for the upcoming national championship.
This year’s resolution or topic for the debate has to do with the redistribution of wealth, which is a subject that the team can dive deep into because it relates to the community around us.
Diego Flores, one of the main coaches, can be seen as one of the people responsible for the team’s success. He started his journey with debate at Bravo Magnet High School.
“Around 2021, I found out that LAMDL was recruiting for Huntington Park High School. I wanted to volunteer my time and help the team out. I feel like I had valuable knowledge and experience to pass down to these students,”
said Diego Flores.
Flores’ guidance has definitely helped the team develop their skills and identify their weaknesses. This is especially true in their practices, which consist of speaking drills, cross-examination, and research.
These practices have allowed the newcomers to get comfortable with speaking at a fast speed, and ensure their arguments are logical and credible. However, it has also given the more experienced members the opportunity to sharpen their skills.
Mr. Luis Gonzalez and Mr. Jose Rodriguez, Social Studies teachers, and coaches for the debate team, have said that they faced many initial challenges preparing for this year’s season.
“This year the team has done a lot more tournaments, mostly at private schools, and those competitions can last 3 days. We’ve had to do more planning and time management to travel there and get the team ready,” said Mr. Gonzalez, known as “Mr. G.”
Despite these challenges, Desiree and Daniel have agreed that competing at these private schools has given them additional experience in working under pressure. They plan on utilizing this to their advantage at the championships.
Written by Co-Editor-In-Chief, Luis Ramirez