By: Renae Brown

   From Texas to New Jersey, students from across the country competed at the NSDA National Harvard Tournament, including three students from TPA. 

   Carlos Ovando, John Irving, and Renae Brown flew into Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday, February 13th with their two coaches, Mrs. and Mr. Favaro, as well as Carlos’ father. 

   Across the three-day tournament, each student competed in two different events. 

   Carlos and John gave speeches inspired by quotes, items, and celebrities with only seven minutes to prepare and speak. 

   John made claims about current events across the world. He had 30 minutes to research and practice before speaking for seven minutes. 

   Carlos and Renae gave ten-minute memorized speeches on societal problems. Renae encouraged people to say no, and Carlos spoke about institutionalism.

   Renae also informed listeners using visual aids about food processing and the brain.

   With 966 people participating in those events, competition was fierce, so no TPA students advanced to final rounds. 

   The TPA team flew in on Thursday so they could sightsee on Friday. They walked the Freedom Trail, toured Paul Revere’s house, climbed Bunker Hill, and ate at a locally famous burger place.

   Saturday and Sunday were tournament days. 

   They spent Monday walking the Boston Common, playing in the snow, and eating in Boston’s Chinatown. 

   Snow was one of Carlos’, John’s, Renae’s, and Mrs. Favaro’s favorite parts of the trip. They experienced active snowfall and had many snowball fights. Mrs. Favaro said, “Renae was killing everyone with snowballs.” 

   Before even returning home, Mr. Favaro was planning their return trip. The team is looking into participating in tournaments at Fullerton California and Harvard next year. 

   Two weeks after the national tournament, John, Renae, Kieran Higgins, Michael Murphy, and Lukas Wall competed at the AIA State tournament. John won fourth place in extemporaneous speaking.

   For most students, State was the last tournament of the year, but John and Carlos are going to National Qualifiers in the middle of March. 

   Wish them well at National Qualifiers and the whole team as they prepare for next year!