Mr. Rosentel was named a Distinguished Teacher by the Noble Network of Charter Schools. More on the award appears in this June 13, 2019 story published on PR Newswire:
20 Chicago Public School Educators Receive Elite “Distinguished Teacher” Recognition Including Annual $10,000 Awards
Leading charter public school network recognizes transformational teachers for best-in-nation performance
Noble Network of Charter Schools
Jun 13, 2019, 08:07 ET
CHICAGO, June 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The Noble Network of Charter Schools has announced the first 20 recipients of its newly created Distinguished Teacher program. Distinguished Teacher provides an industry-changing approach to celebrating and rewarding teachers who are achieving an exceptional impact with students. Among other benefits, each Distinguished Teacher will receive $10,000 annually for as long as they remain teachers at Noble.
“Said in the simplest way, Distinguished Teacher is a program designed to identify, celebrate, reward, and learn from Noble’s most impactful educators,” said Constance Jones, CEO of Noble. “Part of our mission at Noble calls for creative classroom spaces that are transformational and empower students to lead exemplary lives. To this end, we invested years in research seeking the best ways to honor and reward teachers who have consistently achieved exceptional outcomes for our young people.”
The 2018-2019 Noble Distinguished teachers are:
|
Name |
Noble Campus |
Subject |
|
Amanda Meyers |
Pritzker College Prep |
English |
|
Amy Couwenhoven |
UIC College Prep |
Learning Specialist – English and Math |
|
Benjamin Das |
Pritzker College Prep |
Band |
|
Chad French |
Golder College Prep |
Math |
|
Charles Rosentel |
Pritzker College Prep |
Social Studies |
|
Delaina Martin |
Chicago Bulls College Prep |
Math |
|
Jacob Lessem |
Rauner College Prep |
Math |
|
Jamelle Newsome |
ITW David Speer Academy |
Physical Education |
|
Jeremy Robinson |
Rauner College Prep |
English |
|
GySgt. (Retired), Jose Alvarez, Jr |
Pritzker College Prep |
MJROTC – Marine Instructor |
|
Kristin Parry |
Gary Comer College Prep |
English |
|
Laura McKelvey |
Johnson College Prep |
Science |
|
Mariel Race |
Golder College Prep |
Spanish |
|
Matthew Insalaco |
UIC College Prep |
Math |
|
Megan Smeeding |
Muchin College Prep |
Social Studies |
|
Nicholas Acosta |
UIC College Prep |
English |
|
Rachel Hercule |
Muchin College Prep |
English |
|
Sabrina Williams |
Hansberry College Prep |
Social Studies |
|
Solly Thomas |
Baker College Prep |
Math |
|
Stephanie Aeschliman |
Noble Street College Prep |
Science |
Ellen Metz, head of schools for Noble, added, “This program sets a new path in education that elevates the teaching profession. Distinguished Teachers will help inform teacher development and support across Noble. Too often the highest impact teachers feel compelled to exit the classroom. Noble aims to mitigate this national trend through the DT program.”
Distinguished Teachers must be in at least their fourth year teaching at Noble, having exemplified Noble’s core values and traits in five key areas:
- Student Growth: Are your students achieving exceptional growth?
- Classroom Culture: In what ways have you created a strong classroom in which students feel invested, empowered, and connected?
- Instructional Rigor: In what ways does your classroom culture, planning, and instruction push students’ cognitive lift, quality responses, and intentional use of time?
- Inclusion and Relevance: How is your classroom inclusive of and/or relevant to the students that you serve?
- Extended Impact: How have you directly impacted your school, the community it serves, and/or our network outside of your classroom?
These Distinguished Teachers applied for the program in January, first submitting written narratives and a portfolio of artifacts including comprehensive data. Finalists then participated in classroom observations and debriefs, student surveys, a panel interview, and reference checks over the course of four months. Read more about the rigorous application process, and unique program aspects here: https://nobleschools.org/careers/distinguished-teacher/
Facts about this group of Distinguished Teacher recipients:
- Average of 11 completed years of teaching experience in the classroom and 8 years teaching at Noble
- Represent 12 of Noble’s 18 campuses
- Subjects taught include: Band, English, MJROTC, Math, Physical Education, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, Special Education
“What we learned in our external and internal work is that great teaching is complex, there’s no single data-point or observation rubric that can identify it, and there’s a diverse range of ways in which people achieve incredible impact with students,” said Kyle Cole, chief academic officer at Noble. “This premier group of educators will serve to inform teacher development and support at Noble moving forward, raising our collective impact on the students we serve.”
Tanya Klinkhachorn, director of talent at Noble, added, “We want Noble to be a place that teachers know they can have a long-term career in the classroom. The Distinguished Teacher program is an important step toward this being a reality for even more of our incredible educators.”
The Distinguished Teacher designation will come with several clearly defined benefits:
- An additional $10,000 award on top of base salary, as determined by the Noble Salary Schedule, each year for the duration of employment as a teacher at Noble;
- Opportunities to engage in professional development specific to Distinguished Teachers as well as facilitate professional development experiences across the Noble Network;
- Unique opportunities to participate in network-wide decisions across functions;
- Participation in the selection of future Distinguished Teachers.
“Noble has fostered an ever-changing approach to teaching that matches the limitless potential of our students,” said Metz. “Distinguished Teacher will allow us to take this approach to a new level by highlighting the people, codifying the practices, and then leveraging Distinguished Teachers to collaborate or train others. We know the impact on classrooms across our network and beyond will be immense.”
Jones concluded, “Noble has continuously raised the bar in education, from our interim assessments, college tools, and ACT results to our high school culture and health and fitness programs. We feel strongly that Distinguished Teacher will soon be added to this list as a program for recognizing and retaining top talent, identifying and rewarding a diverse definition of classroom excellence, and codifying and learning from incredible teaching.”
About the Noble Network of Charter Schools
At Noble, we are college bound. Noble’s college program exposes our students to higher education options and guides them through the collegiate application process. Through college trips, college fairs, summer college immersion programs and a required year-long college writing course, Noble demystifies the college experience and shapes students’ beliefs and confidence about higher education. http://www.nobleschools.org
Contact:
press@nobleschools.org
SOURCE Noble Network of Charter Schools
Among 85 schools that compete in Chicago Debates, Pritzker had the third-highest number of City Championship-eligible debaters. On Saturday, March 30 at Curie Metropolitan High School, Pritzker competed in a field of over 300 debaters at the City Championship, where two juniors – both first-year debaters – earned considerable honors: Gissele Pacheco was named the Maroon Conference Debater of the Year, the second year in a row in which a Pritzker debater has earned the title, and Joseph Martinez won the Maroon Conference’s Top Varsity Speaker Award. Ms. Pacheco and her partner, sophomore Emiliano Torres, defeated Novice teams from three different conferences, including a squad from Lane Tech, the defending national champion. Mr. Martinez and his partner, junior Lizette Benavides, defeated two Varsity teams from the South Side’s highly competitive White Conference. Sophomores Dawn Payne, Pritzker’s highest-ranked speaker, and Galilea Bautista defeated Novice teams from the White Conference and the Regional Circuit Conference (RCC), the league’s most competitive conference. In Varsity, sophomores Gregorio Chavez and Dashaun Singleton toppled a team from the North Side’s highly competitive Blue Conference while juniors Emily Pereznegron and Maria Ramirez defeated a fellow Maroon Conference squad and seniors Rodrigo Rios and Ivan Garduno won against host Curie of the Red Conference. In Novice, junior Kayla Cruz and sophomore Carlos Espinoza defeated a Red Conference opponent while freshmen Josue Martinez and Jorge Velazquez technically earned a win in their final-round bye.
Ms. Pacheco and Mr. Torres, debating together for the first time, began the tournament with wins against Lane Tech, George Washington High School, and Friedrich Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center. Rounds two through five were power-matched (3-0 teams, for instance, faced other 3-0 teams in round four), and in the final two rounds, the pair fell to successive Walter Payton College Prep squads that would enter Sunday’s elimination rounds as the #5 and #2 seeds, respectively, out of more than 60 of Chicago’s top Novice teams. Even in the round against the #2 seed, the judge wrote, “Both sides did an excellent job of responding to the entire flow [all arguments].” Judges appreciated Ms. Pacheco’s “good delivery of arguments,” “strong cross-examination and asking the negative team to redefine terms,” and noted she did a “good job jumping on the points [her] opponents conceded.” Adjudicators loved Mr. Torres’ “really good first speech,” in which he “covered a lot of ground” and used “good signposting”; “good defense of socialism on cross-examination, good analysis, which was key to winning debate, and good job extending [his] analysis”; and “strong flow and cross-examination.” Further, he “reaffirmed how [his] plan solves,” using “pathos to convince judge.” Of both, judges wrote, “Very good use of road maps – your speeches followed them well. As a team you ask substantive questions in cross-examination.”
Mr. Martinez the elder and Ms. Benavides, also a first-time partnership, defeated teams from Kenwood Academy High School and John F. Kennedy High School, Ms. Benavides the top-ranked speaker in the former and Mr. Martinez twice ranked a round’s 2nd best speaker. Even in defeat, judges wrote, “Great job.”
Ms. Pereznegron, the top speaker in one round, and Ms. Ramirez defeated a team from Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet High School. Judges liked Ms. Pereznegron’s “good road map [stated organization] and summing up [of her] evidence,” and “good order for 2NR [2nd negative rebuttal]” and Ms. Ramirez’s “great road map and use of tags [evidence headlines] to see exactly where” she was in a speech, “good analysis, impact calculus [demonstrating, in this case, on the negative how the affirmative plan would yield greater negative impacts than not passing it], and framing in the 1NR,” and “great, clear, solid speaking!”
For the second year in a row, Pritzker saw two squads compete at the McDermott Will & Emery Novice Debate Invitational on Saturday, March 16 – a tournament open to the top two Novice teams from each conference. Juniors Gissele Pacheco, the tournament’s 4th ranked speaker, and Stephanie Resendiz, ranked 6th, finished 6th and even handed a 7-1 team from Taft that finished 2nd its only losing ballot of the prelims. Sophomores Emiliano Torres, ranked 9th, and Jaylene Llamas won a ballot against a Back of the Yards College Preparatory High School squad that had just earned winning ballots against Lindblom Math and Science Academy and Morgan Park High School. Host McDermott Will & Emery has 20 law offices around the world and is headquartered on the 41st floor of a building that overlooks the Chicago River’s fork into north and south branches. On Saturday, when Chicago also celebrated St. Patrick’s Day, debaters witnessed the river turn green as they hobnobbed with lawyers and challenged their most competitive peers from around the city.
Two adjudicators judged each round, and Ms. Pacheco and Ms. Resendiz won both ballots against Back of the Yards and one ballot against the otherwise-undefeated Taft. Ms. Pacheco, twice ranked a round’s top speaker, once in victory by a McDermott Will & Emery lawyer and another even in the losing ballot against Taft, wowed judges throughout the tournament: “Gissele was very prepared and was able to take apart and identify those weak arguments,” “good ethos,” “very good and clear speaking and reading voice,” “good use of data,” “good use of evidence,” “2AC [2nd affirmative constructive] blurbs are nice and very specific and question the negative, which is great to see,” “good cross-examination,” “nice impact incorporation in 2AR [2nd affirmative rebuttal], it’s very persuasive,” “solid arguments on rebuttal,” “nice job extending case,” “good negative responses and breakdown of position points,” and “clear and well-reasoned with persuasive negative arguments.” Ms. Resendiz, ranked the top speaker on two other ballots, one from a Solorio judge and another a different McDermott Will & Emery lawyer, similarly impressed judges: “very good and clear speaking and reading voice; fast but articulate,” 
Mr. Torres and Ms. Llamas each were ranked 2nd in respective rounds, the former by a Von Steuben judge and the latter by a Morgan Park judge. Adjudicators lavished praise on Mr. Torres: “good volume and pacing,” “engaging when speaking,” “liked the clarity of your speech,” “good job digging into negative evidence,” “broke down arguments well to be persuasive,” “great question regarding numbers in the cross-examination after the 1NC [1st negative constructive],” “good job telling judges about nuke kritik [an attack on the underlying assumptions of the affirmative] in overview of 2AC :),” “2NC [2nd negative constructive] was well organized,” “2NR [2nd negative rebuttal] did a really good job at connecting both criticism of the affirmative case and alternative and kritik,” “nice job utilizing carded evidence to answer the affirmative’s answers to your off-case [arguments the negative introduces] and case [arguments the affirmative introduces],” “good coverage on the case arguments,” “nice job trying to differentiate the parts of the counterplan that don’t encompass the plan,” and “very good use of history to formulate arguments for why colonialism and capitalism are inherently bad ideologies,” Ms. Llamas, likewise, earned the praise of multiple judges: “great fluency,” “volume and pace improved during the course of the presentation,” 
On Saturday, March 2, Pritzker Debate was among just eight squads, the top two Varsity teams in each conference, to compete at the prestigious Mayer Brown Urban Nationals Qualifier. Juniors Bryan Zumba and Joseph Martinez earned wins from both judges in one round and one judge in another – a split decision – to finish 7th at the tournament. Mayer Brown is the 15th largest law firm in the country and has 26 offices around the world, the Chicago location that hosted the tournament its largest.
At the Chicago Debates Maroon Conference Championship at Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet School on Saturday, February 16, the Pritzker Debate Team won the Novice division title, took home 17 awards, and has been invited to two exclusive tournaments next month hosted at law firms – one of which is a national qualifier. Sophomores Emiliano Torres, the #1 overall speaker in Novice, and Jaylene Llamas, the 10th ranked speaker, reached and won the championship round as the #1 seed vs. the #2 after dropping the final round at the last tournament. The pair holds a 12-1 record over the last two tournaments and is invited to the McDermott Will & Emery Invitational, open only to the top two Novice squads in each conference, on March 16. Juniors Bryan Zumba, the 2nd ranked speaker in Varsity, and Joseph Martinez, 11th, also went undefeated in the prelims to reach the championship round as the #1 seed in Varsity but dropped the round to finish 2nd. They have been invited to the Mayer Brown Urban Nationals Qualifier, open only to the top two Varsity squads in each conference, on March 2. Sophomores Gregorio Chavez, the 8th ranked Varsity speaker, and Dashaun Singleton, 12th, reached the #3 vs. #4 seed championship round, which they won to finish 3rd in Varsity. Also undefeated in the prelims and championship-round qualifying were juniors Stephanie Resendiz, the 3rd ranked Novice speaker, and Gissele Pacheco, 6th, who together finished 4th in Novice. Fellow juniors Emily Pereznegron, the 6th ranked Varsity speaker, and Maria Ramirez, 10th, finished 5th in Varsity. Freshmen Jorge Velazquez, the 13th ranked Novice speaker, and Josue Martinez, finished 7th in Novice. Sophomores Galilea Bautista and Dawn Payne finished 8th in Novice. Seniors Rodrigo Rios, the 3rd ranked Varsity speaker, and Ivan Garduno finished 8th in Varsity. First-time debaters, freshman Jose Pacheco, the 12th ranked Novice speaker, and sophomore David Pelayo finished 9th in Novice. Junior Denise Jimenez, partnered with new-to-Varsity sophomore Carlos Espinoza, was the 4th ranked Varsity speaker. Sophomores debating for the first time, Destiny Baca and Edwin Estrada, finished 11th in Novice. Continuing Pritzker’s streak, now in four of five tournaments, Ms. Brick won the Outstanding Adjudicator Award, her second of the season.
Mr. Zumba and Mr. Martinez, the elder, toppled three teams en route to the championship. Mr. Zumba’s “arguments were well-paced and persuasive,” he did a “great job being super clear,” and he gave a “really good 1AR [1st affirmative rebuttal],” demonstrating “good work introducing the possibility of animal adaptations and extending relevant evidence.” “It is clear,” one judge wrote, that he “understands each argument and made an effective case in the 1NR [1st negative rebuttal].” Mr. Martinez had “well-chosen arguments and clear delivery,” gave “great answers to topicality [negative arguing the affirmative’s plan falls outside the resolution] and kritik [an attack on the underlying assumptions of the affirmative],” and did a “great job thinking of creative responses to the opponents’ points (ex. ‘the Secretary of Defense isn’t the only person able to stop Trump’).”
Mr. Chavez, the top speaker in each round, and Mr. Singleton, within 0.5 of 30 possible points of his partner each time, impressed judges through the championship round. Mr. Chavez earned respect with his “great speaking and very strong grasp of the material” and Mr. Singleton with “very strong reading, clarity, and speed,” “good answers on topicality,” and “good coverage over all arguments.”
Ms. Pereznegron, the top speaker in two rounds, and Ms. Ramirez defeated teams from Clark and Amundsen High School. Ms. Pereznegron demonstrated “very good card selection on disadvantages,” “very strong advocacy for [her] own ideas,” and “good inflection and fluidity.” One judge emphasized a particular skill Ms. Pereznegron possesses: “Very good job pulling back to make your key points stronger (setting down card, ‘so judge, what this means is…’).” Ms. Ramirez’s “strong reading,” “really good summaries/answers on disadvantage,” and “good job speaking clearly and varying [her] tone” won over multiple judges.
Mr. Velazquez and Mr. Martinez, the younger, won their first trophy of the season. Judges appreciated Mr. Velazquez’s “good reading,” “good, strong counter/cross-examination,” “persuasive, organized, and well-reasoned arguments,” and “good line-by-line [directly refuting each of his opponents’ claims] on doctors harms [argument that a doctor shortage will lead to pandemic and, eventually, extinction].” With “some [of his] arguments explained,” Mr. Martinez helped defeat a Clark squad in the second round.
Ms. Bautista and Ms. Payne traded off as the top speakers in their rounds. Of Ms. Bautista, judges wrote, “nice emphasis,” “good speed/time management in the 1AC,” and “presented her arguments clearly.” Of Ms. Payne, “knew her arguments very well and was able to clearly point out flaws in the other team’s arguments,” “solid reading,” “good defense of the disadvantage,” “good summary,” “great impact calculus,” “much stronger second speech,” and, “overall, very strong.”
The Pritzker Debate Team’s most intense challenge before the City Championship in March is the demanding 19 hours of dual-conference competition at Tournament Four, held again this year at Michele Clark Academic Prep Magnet School on Friday, January 25 and Saturday, January 26. Given the inclement weather and relative size of each conference, Pritzker primarily faced powerhouse Blue Conference schools, some which have competed at the National Championship. At last year’s two-conference Tournament Four, Pritzker had one of only two Maroon Conference squads that made the elimination rounds, a determination according to success in prelims. This year, five Maroon Conference teams reached the elimination rounds; four of those five came from Pritzker. In the Novice division, sophomores Emiliano Torres and Jaylene Llamas, competing together for the first time, went undefeated in prelims to claim the #1 seed and made it all the way to the late-night championship round. Mr. Torres was also the 5th ranked speaker in Novice. Juniors Gissele Pacheco, the 10th ranked speaker, and Stephanie Resendiz finished 4-1 in Novice prelims as the 7th seed and made the quarterfinals. Junior Kayla Cruz and sophomore Carlos Espinoza also went 4-1 in the prelims to become the 8th seed in Novice quarterfinals. Because the top seed faces the 8th, Ms. Cruz and Mr. Espinoza had a “close-out” with Mr. Torres and Ms. Llamas: that is, two teams from the same school faced each other in an elimination round, and the coaches had to choose who advanced. Still proud of Ms. Cruz and Mr. Espinoza, we advanced the top seed, Mr. Torres and Ms. Llamas, who won the semifinal round that followed. Juniors Bryan Zumba and Joseph Martinez defeated Blue Conference squads from Phoenix Military Academy and Solorio Academy High School, the league’s largest team, and made the JV semifinal round. Seniors Rodrigo Rios, the 9th ranked JV speaker, and Ivan Garduno, 11th, toppled Blue Conference teams from William Howard Taft High School, Frederick Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, and Lincoln Park High School en route to a 6th seed placement, though only the top four seeds made the JV elimination rounds. Mr. Rios also won the judge-nominated Robin Williams Award. Junior Emily Pereznegron debated alone in JV on the first day, scoring a perfect 30 speaker points in a win against Lincoln Park. On the second day, sophomore Dawn Payne joined Ms. Pereznegron in JV when Ms. Payne’s partner and fellow sophomore Galilea Bautista got sick. Ms. Payne and Ms. Bautista went undefeated in Novice with wins against Taft and host Michele Clark. In JV, Ms. Pereznegron, earning a nearly unheard-of second perfect 30, and Ms. Payne defeated a Von Steuben opponent. By making the switch on day two, both debaters lost award eligibility, but Ms. Pereznegron surpassed the top JV speaker in both overall speaker points and high/low, in which the highest and lowest scores are dropped, the standard for ranking speakers. Juniors Lizette Benavides and Denise Jimenez, mistakenly entered in Novice on the first night, won their first two rounds, against Solorio and Lake View High School, and Ms. Benavides even earned a perfect 30 speaker points from a judge moved to tears before they moved into JV for the second day. Freshmen Josue Martinez and Jorge Velazquez defeated fellow Novice competitors from Von Steuben. Sophomores Gregorio Chavez and Dashaun Singleton alone braved the Varsity gauntlet against debaters who may again head to Nationals this year. Finally, I won the debater-nominated Outstanding Adjudicator Award, continuing Pritzker’s streak of winning the prize – now in three out of four tournaments this season.
As with all previous squads, Mr. Zumba and Mr. Martinez, the elder, won on both sides against multiple teams. Judges filled Mr. Zumba’s ballots with praise: “awesome clarity!” “great explanation of the affirmative,” “your framing of the alternative [in the kritik] was really good!” “you framed the impact of the kritik really well and established a coherent link,” “good pace and clarity in 1AC,” and “inherency was very detailed to describe the challenges with the status quo for refugees.” Mr. Martinez’s ballots paint him as a savior: “great analytics on the Brain Drain Disadvantage – especially when framing the link,” “I really like your explanation of the Capitalism Kritik,” “I thought you had a solid reading of the case,” “great extension by covering solvency!” and “You saved the day and won the ballot. Impact calculus is why. Refugees are hurting NOW!!!”
Five Pritzker Debate Team squads reached the Championship round, and Pritzker swept the top 6 Novice speaker awards at the season’s third tournament, held at Noble Academy on Saturday, December 8. Junior Kayla Cruz, ranked the top speaker in Novice, and her partner, sophomore Karime Jeronimo, ranked 12th, defeated fellow Pritzker debaters, juniors Gissele Pacheco, ranked 3rd, and Stephanie Resendiz, ranked 8th, in their Championship round to finish 3rd in Novice with a 5-0 record while Ms. Pacheco and Ms. Resendiz finished 4th. (As an observer in the round, I must admit Ms. Pacheco and Ms. Resendiz should have won and finished 3rd overall, though the judge is the arbiter, not me.) Sophomores Jaylene Llamas, the 2nd ranked speaker in Novice, and Jena Valencia, ranked 4th, finished 12th. Fellow sophomores Emiliano Torres, the 5th ranked Novice, and Carlos Espinoza, a first-time debater who ranked 6th, also made the Championship round and finished in 6th place. Sophomores Galilea Bautista and Dawn Payne finished 11th in Novice while freshmen Josue Martinez and Jorge Velazquez, also a first-time debater, finished 20th. In Varsity, sophomores Dashaun Singleton, the 9th ranked speaker, and Gregorio Chavez, 15th, finished in 2nd place after a 2-1 ballot went in their opponents’ favor during the #1 vs. #2 Championship round. Juniors Maria Ramirez, ranked 4th in Varsity, and Emily Pereznegron, ranked 5th, finished in 6th after losing in a Championship round their opponents admitted Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Pereznegron should have won, but, as noted above, judges alone, not debaters or observers, declare victors. Juniors Joseph Martinez, who won the judge-nominated Robin Williams Award, and Bryan Zumba, returning for the first time since debating last year, finished 9th in Varsity; seniors Rodrigo Rios and Ivan Garduno finished 10th; and juniors Lizette Benavides, the 6th ranked speaker, and Denise Jimenez, 14th, finished 12th. Ms. Brick, nominated by two different debaters she judged, won the Outstanding Adjudicator Award.
Ms. Cruz and Ms. Jeronimo went undefeated through the prelims and the Championship round. Judges in every round loved Ms. Cruz’s speaking ability, particularly her clarity, repeating statements like “you speed-read well while remaining clear,” “speech was clear and well organized,” “good emphasis on important info,” and “very good voice projection.” Other comments included “great rebuttal” and “good job supporting your partner,” Ms. Jeronimo, who did a “good job speaking,” “asked good questions,” and used “good clash” and “good specific quotes.”
Ms. Pacheco and Ms. Resendiz similarly impressed judges through the Championship round. In the first round, the “team […] was clearly very organized and prepared for this debate, and their efforts paid off – they deftly and capably outmaneuvered the opponents’ arguments at all points in the debate and won for strong solvency.” Others praised Ms. Pacheco’s “fluency” and “great job with cross-examination questions” and Ms. Resendiz’s “great articulation,” “very good structure and clarity,” “super solid reading – clear signposts, good highlighting, very clear with speed,” and her rebuttal, which “was also very confidently and thoroughly presented.”
Ms. Ramirez and Ms. Pereznegron were engaged in multiple rounds en route to the Championship that judges called “fantastic.” In the first round, the judge found Ms. Ramirez “respectful and professional” and appreciated her “great speed and clarity,” and noted Ms. Pereznegron had a “phenomenal cross-examination” and “great rebuttal.” In other rounds, Ms. Ramirez “made [her] point in a very concise way,” provided a “great summary of arguments,” and had “good use of impact calculus” – demonstrating on the Negative how the disadvantages of the Affirmative plan outweigh its advantages – “backed up by evidence” while Ms. Pereznegron’s “arguments were clear and well organized,” and she included “great coverage and use of impact.”
The Pritzker Debate Team had the top 2 Varsity speakers and the top 3 Novice squads, 2 of which went undefeated, at the season’s second tournament, held at Benito Juarez Community Academy in Pilsen on Saturday, November 17. Junior Emily Pereznegron was ranked the #1 overall speaker in Varsity – determined by the number of performance-based points awarded by judges – and her partner and fellow junior, Maria Ramirez, ranked 2nd. With a 3-1 record, their squad came in 3rd overall. Three out of the top 6 teams, 5 out of the top 10 teams, and 5 out of the top 11 speakers in Varsity came from Pritzker: sophomores Dashuan Singleton, the 6th ranked speaker, and Gregorio Chavez, 9th, came in 5th; juniors Lizette Benavides, the 11th ranked speaker, and Denise Jimenez came in 6th; juniors Ximena Salas and Raquel Valentin finished in 8th place; and seniors Rodrigo Rios and Ivan Garduno rounded out the top 10. Besides having the top 3 teams in the Novice division, Pritzker had 5 out of the top 9 teams, 6 out of the top 8 speakers, and 10 out of the top 19 speakers: juniors Stephanie Resendiz, the 3rd ranked speaker, and Gissele Pacheco, 6th, went 4-0 to claim the top spot while brand-new sophomore debaters Jaylene Llamas, 4th, and Jena Valencia, 7th, and also went undefeated to finish in 2nd place; junior Joseph Martinez, the 11th ranked speaker, and freshman Josue Martinez, came in 3rd; junior Kayla Cruz, the 2nd ranked speaker, and new sophomore Karime Jeronimo, 18th, finished in 5th place; first-time sophomore debaters Emiliano Torres, ranked 8th, and Marco Garcia, 19th, finished in 9th place; and also-new sophomores Dawn Payne, ranked 15th, and Galilea Bautista went 2-2. With 22 debaters competing on Saturday, Pritzker is the conference’s largest team and, given success across all 11 squads, its most decorated.
Ms. Pereznegron twice earned 29.5 out of a possible 30 speaker points, and Ms. Ramirez scored a rare perfect 30. Judges loved their “posture,” “tone, diction, and reading,” specifically praising Ms. Pereznegron’s “flow and clash,” or direct attacks on her opponents’ arguments, and Ms. Ramirez’s “speed” and “cross-examination,” over which she had “great control,” adding she did a “great job sticking to [her] roadmap,” the stated structure in which she organizes each speech.
Judges were blown away by Ms. Benavides’ and Ms. Jimenez’s “great teamwork.” Ms. Benavides, who “enunciated her words well!” and was the top speaker in two rounds, included a “nice summary at the end of the first affirmative constructive!” “great […] cross-examination questions,” and “nice signposting,” or noting when she shifts between arguments in a speech, en route to “a great job […] overall!” Judges loved Ms. Jimenez’s “great personality” and “nice speed!” equally resulting in a “great job overall!”
After rounds each judge found “close” with significant “clash” against three out of the top four Varsity teams, Mr. Rios and Mr. Garduno ranked as the top two speakers by their final round. Mr. Rios won plaudits for his “solid reading,” “nice speed!” “good time management,” “good tone, diction, pace, reading, and sign-posting,” and “good job during cross-examination” – both while “giving answers” and, when asking questions, “strategically” and by maintaining “control.” While Mr. Rios was the top speaker in the fourth round, when the judge “appreciate[d] that [he] compared evidence in rebuttal,” Mr. Garduno ranked 1st, earning a 30, in the previous round. Judges liked Mr. Garduno’s “topicality answers,” or responses to the negative’s argument that his plan falls outside the resolution’s scope, “good tone and speed,” and “nice voter issue summary,” in which he explained why the judge should vote for his team, adding he “spoke very clearly.” The judge who awarded him the perfect score corroborated and extended previous judges’ comments: “Good tone, diction, pace, and reading speed. Good signposting and roadmapping. Great control during the cross-examination and great clash with your information.”
Ms. Resendiz and Ms. Pacheco, now 7-1 on the year, extended on their success from the first tournament. Ms. Resendiz, “fluent and confident,” ranked as the top speaker in each round for her “great reading,” “great preparation on cards,” “good cross-examination questions,” “good emphasis to highlight important info,” and “good use of impact calculus,” in which she demonstrated on the affirmative how not passing her plan would yield greater negative impacts than passing it. Ms. Pacheco, “articulate” and “confident,” never scored below 28 speaker points because of her “great speaking voice,” “great cross-examination questions!” and “great rebuttal!”
The Martinez brothers (no relation) toppled two different teams from Senn High School and one from Amundsen High School. The elder Mr. Martinez was ranked the top speaker in two rounds, scoring 29 points in the final round. Judges loved his “great use of evidence,” “great spreading,” and “awesome impact calculus.” The younger Mr. Martinez earned a near-perfect 29.5 in one round and was ranked as that round’s top speaker. Judges appreciated his “great speech” and “good argumentation!”
Mr. Rosentel's Website 