SVUDL Crowns its 2026 Champions
On March 7th, 64 students participated in SVUDL’s final championship tournament of the school year, hosted by Yerba Buena High School in San Jose.
In our Asynchronous Public Speaking division, Danielle Marie Garcia from Silver Creek High School won first place securing her position as champion! Special shout out to KIPP San Jose Collegiate students Stanley Tran and Elisa Nguyen for securing 2nd and 3rd place in this division.
In Impromptu Speech, Silver Creek High School swept the division winning all 3 trophies! Danielle Marie Garcia, Mikim Nguyen, and Katelynn Nguyen won 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place respectively! Asked about her experience competing in the Impromptu Speech division, Overfelt High School student Winney Jiang said “I was really shocked by how much I could learn from other people by the way they spoke! I loved seeing the different styles and the way people presented themselves. Their vast vocabulary, the way they changed their facial expressions and hand movements—it was really great to see.”
In Original Oratory, Silver Creek High School student Mikim Nguyen won 1st place and secured her position as the SVUDL Original Oratory Champion!
KIPP San Jose Collegiate won first place in the Public Forum division, winning all 3 top speaker awards! Congratulations to Stanley Tran and Timothy Phan on winning first place, and Michelle Tran, Timothy Phan, Stanley Tran for winning 3rd, 2nd and 1st place Public Forum Speakers respectively! Aleesha Kashif reflected on her experience as their Teacher Coach: “From my first tournament two years ago at Yerba Buena to my last tournament this month, I have truly seen my team come full circle. The kids have grown their skills exponentially, and I have grown mine while trying to teach them. These tournaments have definitely left a long lasting effect on my life that will carry on in all my communication moving forward.”
Our World Schools Debate division was a hotly contested event, with teams from 5 different schools competing to be number one. Our first place World Schools speaker was Anastasia Kolesnikov from Summit Preparatory, at what turned out to be her first tournament ever! Our top World Schools team was from Latino College Preparatory, with the students Kaysee Santos, Daniel Chavez, Isabella Hernandez, Sandra Montejo Zunun, Angeles Jauregui all pulling together to earn the title of SVUDL World Schools Debate Champions!
In the Policy Debate division, the top team and top speaker were both from the host school Yerba Buena High School. With Mandy Thach winning 1st Place Speaker and William Nguyen winning 1st Place Team, securing his position as SVUDL Policy Champion!
William Nguyen will be attending the Urban Debate National Championship (UDNC) in April with his partner Ryan Luu. Wish them luck as they represent our league in Cambridge, Massachussets next month!
We also would like to celebrate some additional members of the SVUDL community for their hard work and dedication to our league over the school year. They represent some of the best parts of our league!
Senior of the Year - De’Angelo Quintero (Andrew Hill High School)
World Schools Debater of the Year - Hilda Huynh (Independence High School)
Public Forum Debater of the Year - Collin Tong (Independence High School)
Policy Debater Debater of the Year - Mandy Thach (Yerba Buena High School)
Speaker of the Year - Augustina Apeh (Independence High School)
New Coach of the Year - Aleesha Kashif (KIPP San Jose Collegiate)
Team Spirit Award - Yerba Buena High School
Rookie of the Year - Jasmine Sek (Overfelt High School)
Judge of the Year - Luke Patusky
Veteran Coach of the Year - Mitchy Rene (Silver Creek High School)
Community Partner - Vu Quang (Yerba Buena Alumni)
Most Valuable Teammates
Brandon Ho (Independence High School)
Alana Vu (Yerba Buena High School)
Stephanie Macedino (Luis Valdez Leadership Academy)
Elisa Nguyen (KIPP San Jose Collegiate)
Katelynn Nguyen (Silver Creek High School)
Logan Brown (Summit Preparatory High School)
Evelin Pinon (East Palo Alto Academy)
Isabella Hernandez(Latino College Preparatory Academy)
Charlie Tu (Mt. Pleasant High School)
Frankie Marin (Andrew Hill High School)
Floreza Daquioag (Overfelt High School)
Francisco Ibarra (James Lick High School)
Sharing final reflections, KIPP San Jose Collegiate student Julie Herrera-Castellanos offered, “At this tournament, I learned that giving yourself courage to get out of your comfort zone can lead to becoming your best self.” The SVUDL team continues to be deeply proud of all our student competitors. Congrats to all of our students on another successful tournament and to all of our 2026 champions and award winners. And thank you to the team at Yerba Buena High School for hosting and volunteering!
