Academic Teams Wrap

Our competing academic teams are doing great this spring, here is a roundup of what they have been up to lately.  

Speech and Debate

This past month, several students competed and placed in the Speech and Debate tournament. Juniors, Rijul B. and Smaran S. were state public forum champions. Three ninth graders made it to finals rounds in speech. Diya M. placed 2nd in impromptu and Brianna Z. and Kaylan L. placed 6th in Duo. Junior Clementine D. placed 5th in original oratory. And six students made it to semifinals in speech. There are also 10 students going to nationals. 

Sophomore Aarna T. made it to elimination rounds in Lincoln Douglas debate. While seniors Alice Z. and Muadh C. also made it to elimination rounds in Public Forum. 

Overlake’s Speech and Debate Coach, Robin Monteith also received the state Coach of the Year Award.

Are you a Middle School student curious about Speech and Debate? This month, any 5th-8th grader can join US Speech and Debate practice for five Tuesdays beginning April 21st from 3-4:30pm upstairs in the 5/6 building. They will get to try out some speech and debate competitive categories and be a part of an informal internal tournament at Overlake on Saturday May 23rd for participants. You can register here. 

DECA

Our DECA program is thriving with nearly a third of all Upper School students participating. At the end of February these students competed and placed in their event. Junior Isabel X. was the state champion in a competition where approximately 6,700 students competed statewide.

Here are some additional rankings from the event. 

Ellie H. & Isabel X. - 5th place for Career Development Project

Dyuti K. & Jennifer X. - 7th place for Business Law & Ethics Team Decision Making

Alyssa L. - 4th place for Business Finance Series

Ellie H. - 6th place - Marketing Communications Series

Isabel X. - 1st Place - Restaurant & Food Service Management Series

DECA will be heading to National competition later in April. 

Robotics

Our robotics team, “Supercritical”, qualified for and will be heading to the FIRST Premier Event at the end of Spring Break. You can learn more about the event here.  

Quiz Bowl

The Upper School Quiz Bowl has qualified for the National Academic Quiz Tournament (NAQT) in Atlanta. This competition will take place at the end of May. 

Model UN

Our Model UN team went to their final conference of the year at University of Seattle (SeattleMUN) on March 7. Be sure to join them next year as the program continues to grow.