Talking Bees Speech and Debate Team Notches First Place Finish… for the Very First Time!

With a high-performing effort at a recent qualifying tournament held at Kenston High School, The Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District’s “Talking Bees” Speech and Debate Team notched a first-place finish, tying with host Kenston High School for top honors, in an exciting tournament matchup. A number of outstanding individual performances helped to contribute to the overall first place finish, including the following below: At the Varsity Level, Valerie Painter placed first in the Oral Interpretation program, which qualified her for a bid to the state tournament for the very first time. Ian Stewart placed first in the Humorous Interpretation program, while he, along with Dylan Grosh-Hoy, placed first in the Duo Interpretation program, good for their fourth bid to the State Tournament. Holly McCollum took third place and Gabby Dachtler took fourth place respectively, in Dramatic Interpretation. Chloe Tichy finished in sixth place for the Congressional Debate. Rounding out the Varsity individual honorees were Everett Dalesio and Rajeev Rangaraju who placed third in the Big Questions Debate program. Adding to the Varsity performance, were the strong individual accomplishments of members from the Middle School team. Those included Rohan Rangaraju, who took first place in the Big Questions Debate, Sam Fairchild, who finished in fourth place in the Big Questions Debate and Kate Sumarli and Celie Ostroski, who finished in second and third place respectively, in the Declamation program. Grace Dachtler placed second in interpretation and Elianna Gamboa took third in Interpretation. Arjun Sheth and Anna Moawad, placed fourth while Garret Travers and Faith Hutchinson placed fifth in the Public Forum Debate. This marks the first occasion in which the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District’s “Talking Bees” team has earned a first place victory in a tournament. Congratulations to these students and to advisor, Mark McCandless.