On Saturday, December 6, the Deering Speech and Debate Team trekked to Poland Regional High School’s Nutcracker Holiday Debate Tournament, bringing home an impressive collection of awards and team titles.

Tournament Results

Our students demonstrated exceptional logic and eloquence across several categories:

Varsity Public Forum Debate: Seniors Alma Wallace and Ellis Retzer claimed 1st place, followed by Seniors Ivy Varbanova and Margo Bean in 3rd. Sophomores Clem Enright and Paisley Haskell finished 4th, while Juniors Safa Mohamed and Delaney Goodwin took 5th.

Novice Public Forum Debate: Freshmen Harper Biel and Wren Donahue finished in 4th place—an incredible feat for their very first competition!

Congressional Debate: Senior Noah Rasheed won 2nd place and Sophomore Ezri Pelletier placed 7th.

Thanks to these stellar individual performances, Deering collectively won 2nd place in both the Debate and Congressional Debate categories!

More Than Just a Competition

At Deering, we are immensely proud of these students. Participation in Speech and Debate is about more than just winning trophies; it is a rigorous exercise in critical thinking, research, and empathy. Our team members fine-tune the ability to view complex global issues from multiple perspectives, sharpening their public speaking and leadership skills with every round.

The zeal these students show to civil discourse and intellectual growth makes us all "Deering Proud" and highlights the bright future of our school community.

Looking Ahead & Getting Involved

A special thanks goes to former coach Mrs. Callaghan and current coach Mr. Hussein for judging and making this trip possible. We are already preparing for our next tournament at Cape Elizabeth High School on January 10.

We Need You! The Deering Speech and Debate Team is actively seeking volunteer judges. By volunteering, you help these students find their voices. Judges will be trained and compensated for their time! If you’d like to support the team, please reach out to Bilal Hussein at husseb@portlandschools.org.

CAPTION: * Top row: Margo Bean, Ivy Varbanova, Alma Wallace, Noah Rasheed, Paisley Haskell, Clementine Enright.

Second row: Ellis Retzer, Ezri Pelletier, Wren Donahue, Harper Biel, Delaney Goodwin, Safa Mohamed.

Bottom: Coach Bilal Hussein.