During Presidents’ Day weekend, Milton Academy students joined nearly 5,000 students from 426 schools in 40 states and eight countries at the 45th Harvard University National Forensics Tournament. Competing in a variety of events, Milton’s team members attained the following notable achievements:
Nyla Sams (II) earned 12th place from a field of 340 entries in Original Oratory;
Jack Burton (IV) earned 12th place from a field of 197 entries in Humorous Interpretation;
Riya Singh (IV) & Zahra Tshai (IV) placed 30th from a field of 165 teams in Public Forum Debate, missing the first cut by 3.6 points. This tournament was their first debate of the year; and
Jana Amin (III) and Maya Bokhari (II) advanced past the first cut to the field of 115 out of 340 original contestants in Original Oratory.
Since the beginning of 2019, Milton speech and debate students have qualified for three national tournaments to be held later this year: the Tournament of Champions (TOC) from April 26–29; the National Catholic Forensic League Nationals (NCFL) from May 25–26; and the National Speech and Debate League Nationals from June 21–26.
Students qualifying for nationals as well as students chosen as alternates are:
Attending TOC Nationals in Lexington, Kentucky:
Nyla Sams in Original Oratory
Attending NCFL Nationals in Milwaukee, Wisconsin:
Maya Bokhari, Nyla Sams and Sachin Shetty in Original Oratory
Talia Sherman in Prose/Poetry
Jack Burton in Humorous Interpretation
Alternates:
Thea Chung: second alternate in Humorous Interpretation
Tyler Tjang: second alternate in Extemporaneous Speaking
Tony Wang & Timothy Colledge: second alternates in Public Forum Debate
Attending NSDA Nationals in Dallas, Texas:
Jack Burton in Humorous Interpretation
Alternates:
Neha Modak: second alternate in Extemporaneous Speaking
Tony Wang & Timothy Colledge: alternates in Public Forum Debate