The National Speech & Debate Association has awarded the Littleton High School speech and debate team the 2020–2021 Leading Chapter Award! Out of 3,000 member schools nationwide, LHS is one of only 108 to receive this prestigious award, which places the team in the top 3% nationally, and this is not the first time they’ve won this recognition. The team won the same award for 2019–2020.

“Leading Chapter schools are recognized based on student participation throughout the school year...These speech and debate programs serve as an inspiration for new teams around the United States” (speechanddebate.org). Basically, for each round a student competes in, they are awarded points, and more points are awarded for a higher performance. This makes a Leading Chapter award truly the result of team effort.

Joining the speech and debate team at Littleton High School is easy: you just join. What is not easy is the time and effort involved in the commitment to the team. Most students meet with coaches once or twice per week, either one-on-one or in team practices. Students also spend a lot of time practicing on their own. 

The LHS speech and debate team participates in eight or nine tournaments during the regular season, and then there are state qualifiers, state, national qualifiers, and nationals.

Coach Jonathan Saliman, who also teaches language arts at LHS, said, “This was really a team achievement, and during an extremely difficult year, it says more about the students than anything else. We earned this honor the previous year, which was one of the strongest in LHS history, so to also get the award when kids couldn't be together, when they competed from home, when practices were over Google meets, and when tournaments were passive speaks to the individual determination and commitment of the students on the team. They worked so hard last year, they did so much on their own, and they kept at it when many programs in the state and nation dwindled or folded. I'm lucky to be their coach.”

Congratulations to the whole team: Grace Amine, Alicia Chavez, Julia Frank, Virginia Frau, Olivia Fendrich, Teya Fukuhara, Lane Greenly, Bella Houch, Nicholas Hopper, Grant Kinzie, Daniel Lamey, Zach Long, Eamon Lujan, Kate Lurie, Kathleen Lynch, Trevor Metz, Ally Procopio, Grady Redding, Ethan Rogers, Stephen Skarbek, Deanna Sokol, Anna Staiert, McAllister Stewart, and Elianajoy Volin.

Way to go, Lions!