When someone hears the term, ‘forensics,’ most people don’t know what it is, which is understandable considering the name is ambiguous. Forensics, more formally known as forensics speech and debate is an extracurricular activity which focuses speech and debate. Speech being a more public speaking event which can range from being comical, sad, or informative whereas debate being a more straightforward activity where there is one person who is right and one who is wrong. Compared to other teams, Manville’s reputation may not be as prestigious as others, however this is all changing with the help of smart, motivated, and talented students.

In past years, Manville would end up winning only 2 or 3 trophies throughout the entire year, but this year that is not the case. Just 2 competitions into the season, Manville had scored a total of 6 trophies which was a great accomplishment thus far. The Manville forensics team may not have the best resources, but what this team does have is motivation and great leaders. This year, the team has Maria Castro as President and debate captain, Marina Saburova as co-speech captain and Yiraldo Campos as co-speech captain. Yiraldo not only took on a captain role, but he also was the first student from Manville to make finals twice in one competition.

While working non stop, the speech students develop stories and persuasive arguments to present to judges while the debate students were fiercely typing their cases which revolve around the topic that was given to them for that month. While this activity might take multiple hours of hard work, it all pays off in the end when competitors can make the  judge shed a tear, giggle out loud or make the judge believe the correct competitor is right while their opponent is wrong.

The team’s president and captain, Maria Castro has put in a lot of hard work and dedication to the program. She recounts that the team was so successful this year because of the preparation. “The dedication each person on the team has is what makes us successful, you can tell they all want to win, but they also put countless hours of work into being the best they can be.”

Maria has be apart of the forensics team since the beginning of high school and has been able to see it grow since then. “I’ve been in forensics since my freshman year and so much has changed. Not only do we have more members involved, but we have more people competing in different events. It used to be mainly debate and poi (program oral interpretation), but now we have a wider range of competitors and mixed with all of their dedication the program is way different in all the best ways.”

With help of these greater leaders, the Manville Forensics team was able to place 6th in program oral interpretation by Fatima Diarra, place 5th in public form by Conor Johnston and Katerina Sabirova, place 5th in oral interpretation and place 6th in original oratory by Yiraldoc Campos and top non-advancing novice in Declamation won by Chloe Gosk.

Senior and Captain of Forensics, Maria Castro leaves the team and any students who are interested in potentially joining with encouragement. “I want to remind everyone what the point of forensics is. Yes, you’re debating government issues and reading poems and prose, but it’s more than that. I truly believe the students involved in their forensics teams are our future leaders. By joining forensics, you’re taking the initiative to learn about the world, listen to other people who are different than you, and grow. Without forensics, I wouldn’t be who I am today. And I hope all of the members who I am so proud to call my teammates and friends (and anyone who joins in the future) continue to work hard and remember how it feels to have that work pay off.