Joey Schnide, a rising Evanston Township High School senior, claimed the top spot in Extemporaneous Debate at the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) Tournament held June 14-19 in Dallas. The win marks the second NSDA national championship in the school’s history and the second national championship earned by ETHS in 2015 as Joey won the NCFL championship in Lincoln-Douglas Debate earlier this year.
His final record in his event was 13-1, and Joey won the final round on a 7-0 decision. This year the Extemporaneous Debate event began with 688 students from 45 states and seven countries and was the largest field in any national debate event in history, said ETHS Speech and Debate coach Jeff Hannan.
With the help of teammates Eric Weine, Kevin Klyman, Nina Kaushikkar, and Joseph Mossbridge, Joey prepared for one-on-one debates in which the topic is announced only 30 minutes prior to a round. Students debated topics such as US-Cuba relations, body cameras for police, Right to Work laws, Palestinian sovereignty, the Greek debt crisis, sexual assault on college campuses, megabank divestment, and Kurdish Independence.
“This championship is the crowning achievement of this season, and it was a true team effort,” said Mr. Hannan.