The Great Debaters
By: Erika ’12
Millicent Kasten ’12 and Jane Irons ’15, members of Upper School Debate, traveled to San Francisco on Apr. 27-29 to compete in the 2012 California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) State Championships. Kasten and Irons qualified for the state tournament by placing among the top six debaters in the Western Bay Forensic League, which consists of high schools in the LA area and is one of 11 regional CHSSA leagues across California.
During the three-day tournament, Kasten and Irons participated in congressional debate, emulating United States congressmen by debating mock bills and resolutions. Topics included a bill to repeal the government ban on the insecticide DDT, a resolution to repeal the government’s “one-strike” eviction policy and a bill addressing medical malpractice.
Irons, a new member of Upper School Debate, said that next year she hopes to qualify for state again and encourage more of her classmates to join the team. She and Kasten, along with Lauren Kang ’12 and Sara Cordoba ’15, attended the Stanford National Invitational Speech and Debate Tournament last February. Irons said that although the CHSSA State Championship was more rigorous and competitive, she enjoyed debating such highly relevant topics with students from across the state.
Emerson Awarded
By: Christina ’14
Jackie Emerson ’12 was honored by the political organization Running Start at the Sixth Annual Women to Watch Awards in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, May 9. These awards honor a selection of the most impressive women in the country, including some of the youngest women serving in Congress, in an effort to inspire more women to hold public office. Emerson received the Alumnae Tribute Award for her work in the movie The Hunger Games. Other honorees included Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Representative Martha Roby, who serve in the U.S. House of Representative; Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall, the Chief of Protocol of the United States; Natalie Randolph, a Varsity Football Coach at Coolidge High School; Taryn Davis, Founder and Director of the American Widow Project; and Rocio Ortega, a student activist.