As the school year winds down, Milton speech and debate students are busier than ever preparing for the upcoming national tournaments at the end of May and mid-June. The National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament will occur virtually over Memorial Day weekend with 18 Milton participants. The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament will take place in mid-June, this year hosting 11 Milton students in the week-long competition.
Milton is coming off an impressive showing at the Massachusetts Speech and Debate League (MSDL) State Tournament where the team captured Second Place Sweepstakes overall, while earning several second-place honors in individual speaking categories. Student debaters also earned first place speaker awards in the junior varsity and varsity divisions of public forum debate. Additionally, in a separate competition, Can Yildirim ’23 earned first place in the Northeast Qualifying Great Communicator Series, winning every round of competition (8-0) and securing the right to represent Milton Academy this coming summer in its national tournament.
The NSDA rewards forensic competitors with an Academic All-American Award once a student has completed five semesters of competition and reached a baseline of 750 points (Superior Distinction). Milton has 13 students who have earned eligibility for this award, one that is bestowed to only the top two percent of NSDA member students.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected many extracurricular activities, speech and debate tournaments have continued to occur via a number of virtual platforms; in fact, Milton speech and debate students have had access to many more tournaments this past year (42 tournaments) through such synchronous, virtual competitions.