The Oak Park High School Speech team emerged victorious from the Tri County Forensic League on March 18 and 19. The OPHS Speech team competed in 10 separate events, some dual and some individual. Of those 10 events, a whopping eight of the entries qualified to compete in the state competition in Carlsbad, CA, on March 21 and 22. 

The students who qualified were duo team Catherine Cheng and Lincoln Reyes, duo team Brystain Heine-Van Fossen and Addie Vandenhengel, Hudson Friedman, Navya Garg, Pragya Mamilapally and Prithvi Vengarai. 

“It was one of our most successful tournaments as a whole team,” sophomore Bing Heine-Van Fossen, a Lincoln Douglas Assistant Debate coach, said. 

The Speech team looks toward the new school year as tryouts are set to be held April 24 through April 28 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Oak Park Library. Students wishing to become members should visit the OPHS Speech and Debate Website for more information. The current members encourage new students to join. 

“Speech and debate is a super fun place to get to know public speaking skills as well as ways to properly convey an argument and communicate with one another. We are a high-commitment team, looking to build community and support each other,” Heine-Van Fossen said.