Stuart Girls Excel at NYC Speech/Debate Invitational

The young Speech and Debate Varsity Team at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart had an outstanding showing at the New York City Invitational at Bronx High School of Science on Oct 19-20. 

Madeleine Lapuerta of Skillman took first place for Stuart, receiving the Brendan O'Meara Award as the 2013 Humorous Interpretation Champion, while two other Stuart girls, Rosalind Stengle of Princeton and Julia Weingaertner of West Windsor, advanced to the semi-final rounds. 

Four members of the team, all Stuart sophomores, competed at the NYC Invitational, which draws competitors from all over the U.S.

Isabella Kopitis from Princeton presented her original oratory, "Leading the Class," while the Lapuerta, Stengle and Weingaertner presented memorized "cuttings" from published plays, screenplays or novels in the categories of Humorous or Dramatic Interpretation. 

The Speech and Debate Team kicked off the year at a national event at Yale University in September when Stengle advanced to the semi-finals in Humorous Interpretation, earning an automatic bid to the National Individual Events Tournament of Champions in May 2014.