Debate and speech team re-established at Fuqua School
Published 11:25 am Thursday, December 10, 2015
Fuqua School has reestablished its Debate and Speech Team.
“Fuqua School has a proud history of debate and forensics under the leadership of Nancy Anderson Haga,” team coach Dr. Robert Frank said. “My goal is to give the students at Fuqua today that same opportunity. I know the power of debate and forensic training in preparing students for the world of work. I look forward to encouraging this new generation of debaters and am excited about what the future holds!”
The Fuqua School team will compete in the Virginia Catholic Forensic League, which includes public and private schools. Additionally, the team will compete in invitational tournaments sponsored by universities and other high schools. Team members Paavan Bonagiri, Max Gebauer, Carson Johnson, Christopher Kendall, Alexa Marzloff and Alice Zhong have been working hard to prepare for upcoming events.
With only two weeks of preparation, Christopher Kendall and Max Gebauer exceeded expectations in their first competition in an open division against students with three years of experience. Christopher came home with three wins and one loss, and Max was very competitive with two wins and two losses. Christopher finished in fifth place and Max finished in eighth place.
“I knew these guys had the potential, bud did not expect them to do this well,” Frank said.
Frank, a native of Farmville and Prince Edward Academy alumnus, is honored to coach the team. He brings an extensive resume of accomplishments in the area of speech and debate with him, including teaching at both the high school and college level, being twice-recognized as Teacher of the Year (in Virginia for Speech and Kentucky for Communications), and competitive experience at both state and national level. While teaching at Great Bridge High School in Chesapeake his teams won numerous state championships.