The Speech and Debate team ran their 33^rd Randolph Classic Speech and Debate tournament on Saturday, Nov. 19, with tremendous reviews from over 500 students and judges who attended from all over New Jersey.

“I was even considering bringing half the tournament into the middle school next door,” Speech and Debate head coach Katherine Burke said. The tournament brought in 493 students and 151 judges from 25 NJ schools, making this year’s tournament Randolph’s biggest yet.

Randolph Speech and Debate members managed a variety of roles throughout the day, ranging from running the snack stand to monitoring halls. “My favorite job was running the photo booth,” sophomore member Zain Iqbal said, when reflecting on the newest addition to the Randolph Tournament. “The energy and organization of it all made me feel like I was a part of one huge community,” said sophomore Tasniah Nur, the newest member of the club.

“The smiles that I saw on the faces of our team members brought me joy,” Burke said, when reflecting on her favorite part of the tournament. “I was so glad to see that people were having a good time, working hard and connecting with other schools. I love seeing our community growing after a tough few years of virtual tournaments.”

“It was my first home tournament without masks since my freshman year, so it was so nice seeing everything return to normal,” said senior Kayla Debrito, vice president of speech.

“There were a couple bumps in the road, but the hard work put in by the students, parent volunteers and judges brought the day to a success,” assistant coach Melissa Stern said.

Tournaments can last the entire day and the Randolph Classic was no exception, with 10 hours of debating, running ballots and helping kids, but to many, the day felt short. Stern succinctly expressed the end of day feelings of competitors, judges and volunteers: “Tired, relieved, and proud.”