Five Shady Side Academy Senior School Speech and Debate Team members competed in two national tournaments this spring.

Three students competed at the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) National Tournament, held June 13-17 in Louisville, Ky.  This year, 4,848 students from 1,081 schools and 51 states and territories competed at the national tournament.

Junior Nichole Poltinnikov placed sixth in the country in Lincoln Douglas Debate, debating both sides of the resolution "Resolved: Radicalism is preferable to incrementalism to achieve social justice." She also eared the third-place trophy as a top Lincoln Douglas speaker, gaining the third most speaker points in the group of 264 competitors.

Sophomores Hari Viswanathan and Mathew Long were among 172 competitors in the Senate event in the NSDA Congress. They advanced to the semifinal round with 26 other students, marking the first time Shady Side students competed in the Senate semifinals. 

In addition, Shady Side Academy was recognized by NSDA as a Debate School of Excellence. 

In addition, freshmen Sunny Zhao and Audrey Jiang qualified to compete in the National Catholic Forensics League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament, held May 27-29 in Washington, D.C. Zhao and Jiang competed in the preliminary round of Duo, a speech event.

Congratulations to all five students, faculty coaches Mary Krauland and Jacki Weaver, and the entire Speech and Debate Team on a great year of competition!