By Vanessa Wu

Staff Writer

On Jan. 18, Gabrielino’s Screamin’ Eagles Speech and Debate team attended the Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational at James Logan High School in Union City. The team left at 6 a.m giving them time to bond and practice on the bus ride, before arriving at 1 p.m. This was a large tournament that consisted of six rounds, starting off with 90 entries in each event and cutting down to the top seven by the finals.

“Logan helped me realize all the improvements I could make as a performer,” stated freshman Megan Chan. “I’ve come to terms that there is no right way to give a speech and that different people have different ways of performing.”

  The Gabrielino Speech and Debate team has about 170 students, 50 of which competed at this invitational. There were 20 events and most of the team participated in more than one event.

  For Original Oratory,  junior Jaden Raymundo placed first and sixth in Duo Interpretation with his partner junior Khin Han. Junior Felicia Tang placed second in Informative. Senior Jaycob Wahinehookae placed third in Dramatic Interpretation and senior Gabriel Pena placed sixth in Humorous Interpretation. Melanie Hsiang was the only freshman in Gabrielino that placed sixth in Program Oral Interpretation.

  “It’s not everyday that [ I ] see what people put into their speeches. Seeing everyone work so hard is truly inspiring and motivates me to be a better speaker.” stated freshman Melanie Hsiang.   

  For the Gabrielino Speech and Debate team, when necessary, students had to attend nearly all the practices and compete in more than just the mandatory tournaments. Throughout this year, the team had help from alumnis and their coaches, attending longer practices.

  “Our team doesn’t focus on the winning factor but rather the learning experience,” stated Captain Jaycob Wahinehookae, senior. “Seeing people perform from schools outside of our league gives us insight on the competition that will be at the State and National Championships.”

  Participants in this tournament come from all over the nation and from different leagues. Some of them are the best speakers from the nation and some students go up against national finalists.

  “I see this [ tournament ] as a representation of all the hard work of the people that have helped me with this speech,” stated junior Felicia Tang. “A lot of sacrifice, from my parents to my peers to my coaches have been made so that I could compete in this tournament. I know they would have been proud no matter what place I got.”