March 2026
Read the whole newsletter in it’s original format here: https://mailchi.mp/6f4147057aad/coachs-march-newsletter
Coach Contreras' March Newsletter!
Happy Spring, and more importantly, happy spring break! We're halfway through the spring semester and the semester is absolutely flying by. This month is our last big tournament of the semester: TFA State! We also have some significant events happening after spring break that I want you to mark your calendars for!
Email Order:
State Qualifiers
Success Spotlights
Fundraising
Spring Reminders (including team photos, summer camp, and scholarships)
Spring Events
Student Officer Process info
Volunteer opportunity!
2026 TFA STATE
Emmy Ward, Congress
Lucy Laves, World Schools
Salome Casey, World Schools
Elena Lucas, World Schools
Ellie Hamilton, Duet Acting
Vivi Fitzgerald, Duet Acting
Parker Benko, Public Forum
QUALIFIERS
Alexis McLemore, Humorous
Atticus Sencenbaugh, WSD
Schaefer Russell, World Schools
Rebecca Ballow, Congress
Zoe Taylor, U.S. Extemp
Lucie Flynn, U.S. Extemp
Rosemary Spindler, PF
State Point Earners
These students competed at tournaments and advanced to outrounds, earning points towards state. They did not qualify to state this year but we still want to recognize them for their competitive successes!
Lauchly Johnson
Talia Adelman
Omar Thalji
Mads Noes
Lana Kawakami-Lynd
Will Turner
Amanda Kromer
Parker Fine
Noble Padden
Hazel Chawla
Maddie Dy
Tessa Frackowiak
Klein Russell
CJ von Hippel
Michael Issa
Lizzy Hall
February Student
Austin High
Rebecca, Congress finals
Will, Congress finals
Ellie, 3rd place oratory
Hebron/The Colony Swing
Ellie & Vivi, duet, 1st
Ellie & Vivi, duet, 2nd
Talia & Alex, duo, 5th - both sides
Alexis, HI, 6th - Hebron
Success Spotlights
LASA/Salado Swing
Lauchly, 2nd place U.S. Extemp - LASA
Omar, 5th place U.S. Extemp - LASA
Omar, 5th place U.S. Extemp - Salado
Ellie, 4th place, Oratory - Salado
Noble, 5th place, Oratory - Salado
National Speech and Debate Association National Qualifiers!
Atticus and Elena have qualified to join the Heart of Texas World Schools Debate Team!
Assistant Coach Joey Prather was also nominated for and won Assistant Coach of the Year!
Fundraising!
We're two weeks into our GiveButter and students have been working hard to fundraise!
Each student's fundraising goal is $300 but there are other ways to fundraise aside from GiveButter! Students can help meet their goal by making corporate sponsorship asks. If they're interested in making corporate asks, they should bring their personal device to after school practice in the coming weeks to send emails asking for sponsorships from businesses.
Students can also help collect donation items for the raffle by emailing or visiting local businesses. More information about this fundraising method will be shared after spring break, as we get closer to our spring Showcase event!
GiveButter Link here: https://givebutter.com/andersondebate2026
We had so much fun at the Harvard University Tournament last month!
Thank you to our booster club for helping plan this amazing experience!
Spring Reminders!!
Team Photos
These will be taken after school on Tuesday, March 24th, from 5-6pm.
Students can bring their debate clothes to school and drop them off in my classroom in the morning.
This is a formal photo! I have a few extra pieces of debate clothes for students to wear, so please encourage your student to ask about those if they need to borrow a blazer or other formal clothing item.
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Summer Debate Camp Scholarship Application
The booster club and I are so excited to offer several scholarships to participate in speech and debate camps this summer! This application will close on Friday, March 6th so please have your student work on it ASAP!
Application here!
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Summer Camps
Speech and Debate summer camps are so often the thing that helps a student go from a good debater to a great one. They help kids realize their potential, set high goals for themselves and meet those goals. I will be working as an administrator for the Victory Briefs Institute this summer and have worked there the past two summers, so I've seen firsthand how students go from enthusiastic novices to skilled second-year debaters.
You can see my speech and debate camp recommendation list here!
Please let me know if you have any questions at all about debate camps! Most applications are open now and will be closing in March or April, and it's better to apply sooner if you're requesting financial aid!
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Tournament Requirement:
Please read this section if your student has not met their tournament requirement for the year. For novices, the requirement is 3 and for varsity members, the requirement is 5. If your student is confused, they should consult me in class.
Novices: If any first-year debater has not met their tournament requirement, Supplemental Assignment #2 was due last Friday (2/27). Supplemental Assignment #3 will be due on May 1st. If students are confused about which supplemental assignment they need to complete, they should talk to me in class.
Everyone: UIL Academic District will be on Saturday, March 28th. All students are welcome to sign up! It will count for a debate tournament entry! Registration is due on Friday, March 13th.
Student Sign-Up here
Any student who didn't reach their tournament requirement can do so by attending after-school workshops! I'm working on the workshop schedule with my officers; it will be updated by the end of next week.
Workshop schedule here (Google Sheet version)
Google Calendar version here
For novices, 3 after-school workshops will count as 1 tournament. For varsity members, 2 workshops equal 1 tournament.
Spring Events
March 11-15th: TFA State!
Qualifiers Only. Wish us luck as we head to Prosper, Texas, for the state speech and debate tournament!
March 28th: UIL Academic District Tournament
Students can sign up until Friday, March 13th!
SHOWCASE!
Showcase is our annual skit show, performance series, and community event. All students are expected to participate in both rehearsals and performances.
Showcase Performance: Saturday, May 2nd
morning rehearsal: 11 am - 1 pm
performance: 2 - 4 pm
Showcase Rehearsals after school from 4:45 - 6 pm
Tuesday, April 28th (in Contreras' classroom)
Wednesday, April 29th (in Contreras' classroom)
Friday, May 1st (in theater)
Debate Banquet (AKA debanquet)
My favorite event of the year. Our final team dinner and an opportunity for students to be awarded superlatives and for seniors to give one final speech to their team.
This is a speech and debate team member-only event.
More details will be shared next month!
Date (most likely): Sunday, May 17th
Location TBA
Student Officer Process
After spring break, I'll send out information about the student officer process for the 2026-27 officers!
Students must be juniors or seniors with at least 1 year of varsity team experience to become officers.
(Current juniors in the debate 1 class are not eligible to be officers)
We have such an amazing student body and officer appointment is always a competitive process. I have taken steps to make sure our officers reflect leaders on our team and the community and are chosen based on the work they've done to establish and maintain a culture of respect, good sportsmanship, and support. This year, students will need to be evaluated by teachers as part of their appointment.
It is incredibly important to me that I send students into the next school year with strong leaders who reflect and represent our team.
Thank you so much for reading! I can't believe we're almost halfway through the semester. It's been an amazing four years here at Anderson and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with your students. I'm very excited for the events we have planned this spring!
Thank you, also, for your continued support! If you're interested in helping plan, organize, or volunteer at Showcase or Banquet, please let me know! It takes a village to make these events so successful!
thank you,
Coach El
el.contreras@austinisd.org