Results

National Middle School Speech and Debate Tournament

FSD Finalists, 2021

8 students, 9 recognitions, 2 National Schools of Excellence

Parks Junior High

*Aashna Dialani: Top 15 Showcase Finalist in Declamation

Beechwood Middle School

Juliana Ibarra: Top 11 Showcase Finalist in Dramatic Interpretation

*Noemi Maciel: Top 14 Showcase Finalist in Original Oratory

Ladera Vista Junior High

Maria Lorraine Mercurio: Top 13 Showcase Finalist in Prose

Molly Cooper : Top 10 Showcase Finalist in Informative Speaking AND

Top 13 Showcase Finalist in Prose

Robert C. Fisler Middle School

Reva Sobti: Top 16 Showcase Finalist in Prepared Prompt Speaking

Soumya Sobti: Top 20 Showcase Finalists in Pro Con Challenge

Nicolas Junior High

*Hikari Dao: Top 10 Showcase Finalist in Program Oral Interpretation

*Also Finalists in 2020!

Congratulations to our TWO Schools of Excellence!!!

School points were awarded for top two ranks in each round of the challenge, capped at the top ten entries per school. There were a total of twenty Schools of Excellence for middle school, including two of our very own!!

Parks Junior High

Robert C. Fisler

Parks is now a two-time champion school!! Remember, 6th graders from elementary schools contribute points to their feeder middle school, so this is an all-out team effort and recognition of the hard work, experience and expertise of Advantage and their ability and willingness to transition to a virtual model, the hard work and effort by ALL the Teacher Coaches to build team spirit and guide ALL students, and of course the hard work and GRIT shown by our students to be persistent in meeting their goals during a year of unforseen emotional and academic challenges. Finally, thank you, Principals for continuing to support this program and giving students a unique chance to develop and showcase their passions and skills in such a powerful way!

Parks and Fisler as well as the 8 Students will be recognized in front of the board at a later date...stay tuned for those details

Warm-Up Tournament: October, 2020

Elementary: https://vimeo.com/469367376

2019-2020

Tournament Results

Virtual Middle School National Tournament: June, 2020

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO

PARKS JR. HIGH!!!

THE 2020 NATIONAL MIDDLE SCHOOL

SPEECH AND DEBATE CHAMPIONS

National School of Excellence

NATIONALS BY THE NUMBERS:

40 PARTICIPANTS

11 SCHOOLS

10 TOP-TEN STUDENTS

12 TOP-TEN RECOGNITIONS

7 EVENTS

FULLERTON IS SO PROUD OF THE HARD WORK AND DEDICATION PUT IN BY ALL 40 STUDENTS WHO COMPETED AT NATIONALS! SEE OUR CELEBRATION HERE:

PICS: http://bit.ly/NAT2020FSD

VIDEO: http://bit.ly/NAT2020VIDEO

https://www.speechanddebate.org/2020-middle-school-showcase-finalists/

WE HAD AN IMPRESSIVE 10 STUDENTS (6TH-8TH) FROM 6 SCHOOLS

CONTRIBUTE TO WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!

AND THE WINNERS ARE......

Declamation

Nathan P.- Parks (Sunset Lane)

Ruby P. - Nicolas

Irene S. - Parks

Dramatic Interpretation

Hikari D. -Nicolas

Aashna D. - Parks (Laguna Road)

Humorous Interpretation

Noemi M. - Beechwood

Informative

Kevin H. - Parks (Sunset Lane)

Program Oral Interpretation

Ruby P. - Nicolas

Storytelling

Costa G.B. - Ladera Vista (Hermosa Drive)

Suri R. - Parks (Sunset Lane)

Sammy V. -Parks

Impromptu

Irene S. (Parks)

A MESSAGE TO SCHOOLS FROM OUR AMAZING DISTRICT DIRECTOR, MS. FINNY:

We had an amazing showing at the Online National Tournament this year. We have made history as a district, because Parks Junior High has now become National Champions, receiving a National School of Excellence award.

Since March, 40 of our speech students have fully dedicated themselves to transitioning to a virtual world. Students learned how to make a connection with their peers, build strong virtual presence, and how to effectively communicate verbally and nonverbally to an audience. Hours were spent participating in 2:2 practice sessions and team building meetings, they even competed live at the first Virtual Middle School State Tournament.

This tournament was unlike others in the past, and the students demonstrated their flexibility and resilience through each change they were faced with. At this National Tournament students were asked to record a video of themselves to be submitted for competition. This video was shown in 5 different rounds with two judges per round. From the students' rankings, the National Speech and Debate Association recognized the top 10 students in the country, and their recording will be showcased in the National Speech Resource Database (This will be released at a later date by the NSDA). While no individual rankings were given to the students, this recognition was not an easy feat to accomplish.

Congratulations, to all the students who participated this year at Nationals! Thank you to all of the students, parents, teachers, school administration, district staff and leaders and board members for supporting our program. These students are now the pioneers of Virtual Speech competition and have made a mark in history. This cannot have been accomplished without various people trusting and believing in our process at Advantage Communications. At any time in the day, students tried something new for the first time whether it was a new coaching technique or a new online program. Teachers and principals navigated ways to correspond with students and support them during this stressful time. We even had district IT personnel assisting at all hours of the day whenever we had a technical issue. This could not have been accomplished without the leadership and support from our district and board members.

We are an intricate puzzle piece, our successes and National Championship would not be possible without everyone working tirelessly to make an impactful and memorable program for our Fullerton Students. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all!

Virtual State Championship, May 2020

The first of its kind Virtual Speech and Debate State Championship took place May 18-22 over Google Meet. Fullerton students were represented in 140 of the entries and competed against hundreds of students from 25 schools from across California . A virtual awards ceremony was held with over 200 students and teacher coaches attending. Fullerton schools placed in an impressive 6 of the overall top 10 schools: Parks earned 2nd, Beechwood and Laguna Road tied for 3rd, Sunset Lane tied for 5th, Nicolas earned 7th and Ladera Vista placed 8th. Students were recognized and congratulated through virtual pre-recorded videos from our own Dr. Bob as well as other local and state leaders, including Fullerton Mayor Jesus Silva and State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurman.

Our partner, Advantage Communications truly went above and beyond by not only deciding to host this event, but by committing to above-and-beyond work to provide a best-in-class, seamless experience for students, second only to being able to compete in person.

Elementary Mardi Gras Tournament: February 1, 2020

Elementary

Mardi Gras Tournament

4th-5th Grade

February 1, 2020

And the Winners Are.......

Small School Division......Large School Division

Thank you to Sal Tinajero and Finny Vuong and ALL of the amazing coaches

at Advantage Communications for another amazing tournament!

And we couldn't do ANY of this without the support and commitment

from our parents, Teacher Coaches,

School Board and District Administration!

Thank you, FSD!

From left to right:

Trustee Clerk, Beverly Berryman, Trustee President, Jeanette Vasquez,

Assistant Superintendent of Education Services, Julienne Lee,

Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, Dr. Chad Hammitt and Superintendent Dr. Bob Pletka

Middle School Mardi Gras Tournament: January 24-25, 2020

SAUSD Jr. High

Mardi Gras Tournament

January 24-25, 2020

The SAUSD Mardi Gras in Santa Ana was by far the most competitive tournament

of the year. Over 700 6th-8th grade students competed over the weekend from multiple

districts and schools, and Fullerton represented very well.

Large School Division

2nd place Parks Junior High

5th place Nicolas Junior High

Elementary Winter Classic: December 14, 2019

Elementary Winter Classic

December 14th, 2019

Nicholas Jr. High

Another Win for Some Schools, and a New Win for Others!

Way to go, Speech and Debate students and coaches!

Large School Division

1st Laguna Road

2nd Robert C. Fisler

3rd Orangethorpe

Small School Division

1st Richman

2nd Sunset Lane

Middle School Fall Classic: November 1& 2, 2019

Jr. High Santa Ana Fall Classic Tournament Results

Century High School

November 1-2, 2019

Great job to all the 6th-8th graders who competed

at the Santa Ana Fall Classic on November 1st and 2nd.

Once again, Fullerton students made their mark,

by improving, placing and winning!

GO FULLERTON!

Large School Division

1st Place - Parks (Laguna Road & Sunset Lane)

3rd Place - Nicolas (Pacific Drive, Richman, Woodcrest, Orangethorpe)

4th Place - Beechwood

Small School Division

2nd Place - Robert C Fisler

Go to the Gallery and Media link on the right to see pictures!

Elementary Warm Up Tournament : October 12, 2019

Elementary Warm Up Tournament Results

Nicolas Jr. High School

October 12, 2019

Congratulations to our top

four elementary schools in the large division....

Laguna Road 1st place

Robert C. Fisler 2nd place

Hermosa Drive 3rd place

Woodcrest Elementary 4th place

...and to our winners in the small school division:

Richman 1st place

Sunset Lane 2nd place

Go to the Gallery and Media link on the right to see pictures!

Middle School Warm Up Tournament: September 27-28, 2019

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 6th-8th GRADE

SPEECH AND DEBATE TEAM!!

14 Fullerton schools competed September 27th and 28th to earn a total of

148 individual awards across 11 events, resulting in 3 school awards!!

Large School Division

1^st Parks Junior High 294

2^nd Nicolas Junior High 155

Small School Division

1^st Robert C. Fisler 80

In 1st place large school division Parks Junior High along with their feeder schools Laguna Road and Sunset Lane led the victory for our school district. Our schools would not have done as well if it were not of the help of our amazing elementary schools.

In 2nd place large school division Nicolas Junior High along with their feeder schools Richman Elementary, Woodcrest Elementary, Pacific Drive Elementary, and Orangethorpe Elementary. This was the first time Nicolas Junior High placed in the sweepstakes category, and they rose to the top with 2nd place. This was not an easy feat, but they were able to make history this tournament!

In 1st place small school division Robert C Fisler for their first time competing as a team, their small but mighty team rose to the challenge and won the small school division.

Beechwood School, Ladera Vista, Hermosa Drive, Maple Elementary, and Valencia Park also participated and made astonishing marks on the tournament with several semifinalist, finalist, and champions!

Our school district's success is not attributed to a single person, thank you to all the teachers, school district employees, and parents who support this program.