Westglades Middle School students brought home nine awards from a regional speech and debate tournament on Oct. 24, including a first-place finish. The team was the only middle school in the field at the Western Cat Claw Classic Speech & Debate Tournament at Western High School.
The tournament drew 24 schools from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, with 335 entries and 374 competitors. Westglades sent 36 seventh- and eighth-graders, many of whom faced students in novice and varsity high school divisions across five rounds of debate and public speaking. The day ran from 7 a.m. to about 7 p.m.
Ayla Harper led the team with a first-place finish in Dramatic Interpretation and a second-place finish in Program Oral Interpretation. Rebecca Budraj placed fourth in Informative Speaking and fourth in Program Oral Interpretation. Other winners included Logan Hoffman, Ellen Salame, Liv Sundquist, Alissa Erickson and Sahithya Muddurajaveera, who took third in Congressional Debate.
Coach Brooke Pappas said the results reflect months of preparation, from rehearsing speeches to researching topics. She said watching her students hold their own against older competitors was especially meaningful, and that they also showed professional listening and respectful engagement with other debaters.
