Speech & Debate Students and Director Recognized

Kent Denver’s Speech & Debate team is heading into winter break on a high note. More than 40 schools—with 600+ student entries—attended Winter Wonder at Cherry Creek High School on Saturday, December 14, and the following KDS students were recognized:

• Noah H. ’26: Tournament Champion (1st place) in United States Extemporaneous Speaking
• Matilda V. ’25: 3rd place in Dramatic Interpretation
• Sanyu Y. ’27: 6th place in Humorous Interpretation

We’d also like to congratulate Director of Speech & Debate Mike Bausch for earning his second Diamond Award from the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA), one of the highest honors a coach can achieve, which reflects excellence and longevity in the activity. To earn a Diamond, a speech & debate coach must be a member of the NSDA for at least five years and earn a certain number of points through team participation, student achievement, public service and leadership work. 

"Working with Mr. Bausch has been such a delight, and he truly deserves the recognition of receiving a second Diamond,” said Chris Dominguez, Assistant Director of Speech & Debate. “He kept the team together during one of the hardest times in the speech & debate community—the COVID era. These last two years, we have seen record numbers of participation at Kent Denver, and this is due to the hard work and dedication from Mr. Bausch." 

Congratulations to our Sun Devils, as well as Mr. Bausch, for an amazing semester! After winter break, our Speech & Debate team will be heading to Phoenix from January 10-12 to compete at Arizona State University’s annual speech & debate tournament.