What an amazing end to 2016 for TISA; from our 20th anniversary to hosting our very first CEESA competition. We, as a school continue to make our mark in TISA’s history as the Speech & Debate team is steadily stepping away from its fledgling status. Last year our team had 5 finalists with 3 medals won at the CEESA tournament in Prague, but this year we improved to 8 finalists with 6 medals! Speech & Debate really does “Engage, Inspire, and Empower” (Our TISA slogan). We engaged with many new students, quickly making friends and new connections. We inspired other teachers, judges, competitors, and students with our event. Finally, we empowered others with our achievements, encouraging them to aim for bigger and better. The other schools that had arrived for the tournament were Istanbul International Community School, Kiev International School, QSI Minsk, Anglo-American School of Moscow, Anglo-American School of St. Petersburg, American School of Warsaw, and School 23 of Azerbaijan.
The first day of the tournament was nerve-wracking for the entire team. Our hearts were pounding, as we thought about the hours of practice that went into this event. We were fixing each other’s matching ties - trying to be more professional and united. Really, this was just to calm ourselves down. Some schools were standing at the sidelines, silently hoping for the events to come quicker. Others were anxious, thinking about whether they’d make it to the finals.At the opening ceremony, all the participating of the 8 CEESA.schools arrived in our lunch hall, and were seated to their assigned aisles. The awe of being a part of something bigger easily blurred out the reality of our nerve wrecking fears of messing up lines, speeding up too much, asking questions that didn’t make sense, or stuttering through the entire speech. Ms. Sheyda began with the opening address and reminded us of the power of words. This opened everyone’s heart- it was our time to shine. Rana Isaczai, the high-school Speech and Debate team co-captain, congratulated us on our efforts for getting this far and then lightened the mood by telling us about her first Speech and Debate Impromptu speaking event.
As most of the team hosted students from CEESA schools, we were offered a better chance to get to know them personally. All of the schools gained positive impressions of TISA and Baku. They got to see the sights in Baku and experience the rich culture and history of the city. Our school, TISA is a very gracious school – our generosity and kindness made the trip more enjoyable for our visitors. The tournament was well organized, though there were times when events were running late, but TISA was quick to fix the issue. There’s a lot to handle when there are 71 different events in 7 different rooms, involving 60 students through the course of 2 days. School 23 had participated in many of the events and were also spectators. This was School 23’s first time joining a Speech and Debate tournament, and with a small team I think they really enjoyed themselves and are ambitious to do better next time.
Having students from middle school being the audience throughout the whole competition was very encouraging. The students were a very appreciative audience and had lots of TISA spirit. Having familiar faces in the audience really made the whole speech and debate tournament more enjoyable. This helped boost our confidence knowing that our friends were there to listen to us. In preparation for the event, many parents and teachers volunteered to judge events. They spent an entire day training to get the hang of it, of being fair, etc. We are all very thankful because without these teachers and parents who had helped as being a judge. Additionally, we would also like to thank the Maintenance Department, IT Department, Driving and Security Department, and all other Staff who contributed and supported the competition in a variety of ways. The entire event was live streamed by Mr. Monaghan and some of his students. Thank you very much to everyone once again for all your support!
Running the event within the Speech and Debate Competition was fairly straightforward. We had students volunteering to set up the rooms, and if anything was necessary there was a ‘help desk’ set up. This ‘help desk’ had a phone and a minimum of two students with brightly colored t-shirts so that they were easily recognizable, and the desk had a phone that could be called from each room. Many of the high school speech and debaters volunteered to help out as time keepers throughout the whole competition. All of the volunteers had a day of training to teach them all of the time keeping rules and techniques. The volunteers helped a great deal!
For the Speech and Debate closing ceremony, Nastja Gerlich gave a wonderful speech talking about how we each had a great chance and that we were very lucky that we could do this. Soon, students were awarded with the well earned medals and trophies for each event. Finally, Mrs. Caskie the Tournament Director thanked everyone who participated, judged and helped with the tournament. It was a great chance to acknowledge many of the people who worked behind the scenes of the tournament.Speech & Debate has taken a substantial amount of my time, but in the long run it has paid off hugely! Throughout this time, I wasn’t only preparing for my events, I was also given the chance to interact with people with similar interests. I also got the chance to create the tournament website as well as write this report. This was a time for me to bloom! Getting this far in itself is such a great experience. With 6 medals representing the growth and effort of this year’s team, we are all grateful for such an amazing time. Speech and Debate is changing - it's shaping into a real family! Our sincere thanks to Mrs. Caskie, Ms. Emma, Mr. O’Sullivan, Mrs. Aisha, and Mrs. Green for guiding us the entire way. Without our coaches, we wouldn’t be able to get anywhere! Thank you so much!
Benji Jacob, MS Speech and Debate Team 2016
