Big Island debaters shine at Neighbor Island Tournament

WAIMEA — Parker School hosted the Speech and Debate Qualifying Neighbor Island Tournament (NIT) Jan. 12 and 13. Twelve of the top teams in the state attended, and for the first time three Big Island schools participated: Hilo High, Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA) and Parker School.

More than 200 students competed from all over the state, and HPA for the first time in nearly 20 years. Noteworthy Big Island wins included HPA students Mark Schiller, who placed third in Impromptu Speaking, and Hali’a Buchal, who placed fourth in Humorous Interpretation.

Parker School students Kirk Hubbard and Anna Gaglione, both of whom represented Hawaii at the national level this past summer, placed first in Varsity Policy Debate. Parker’s other two national qualifiers, Hunter Kalahiki-Arnbrister and Zoe Vann, placed second in Dramatic Interpretation and third in Championship Lincoln-Douglas Debate, respectively.

Other noteworthy wins include Parker’s sweep of Junior Varsity Debate, where Emma Laliberte and Shione Mochizuki placed first, Hana-Lei Ji and Jamie Sato placed second, Katie Carey and Riley Herendeen placed third, and Reece Herendeen and Taiga Okada placed fourth. With the top three teams qualifying for the state championship, this is the first time in 11 years that any school has qualified three teams in one category.

In Beginning Public Forum Debate, Parker School’s Tyler Thomas and Hiroki Soler placed first.

In total, three speech competitors and 11 debaters from the Big Island qualified for the Hawaii Speech and Debate State Championships that will be held on Oahu in April.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Julia Burke Foundation, Parker School’s next debate outing involves 12 debaters traveling to Stanford in early February to compete against mainland teams.