National Competitors
Archbishop Curley Notre Dame’s fantastic five qualify
for national competition.
Improving on their third place finish in regional
competition, seniors Max Gaston and Jennifer Macourek
finished at the top in Duo Interpretation for their performance of “The Vain
and the Heartless”, a soap opera parody.
Also finishing in first was junior Christopher Avina
in Oral Interpretation with “The Hangman and
The team’s strongest competitor, current state and regional champion, Erdina Francillon, took second place in the category of Original Oratory with her essay, “The Greatest Expectations”, an original composition on self-imposed expectations and the pressures of being a teenager. Also in second place, was the up and coming ACND freshman Kristina Andrion. After a strong third place finish in Declamation at the Art Deco Regional Tournament in February, Kristina hopes to continue the upward trend at national competitions as one of the youngest participants.
With their coach, Mrs. Beth Love, the five students will
travel to the Catholic Forensic League Grand National Tournament in
ACND’s involvement in Speech and Debate dates back to before the merger of Archbishop Curley High School and Notre Dame Academy in the early 1980’s and boasts members that have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, business owners, and media personalities.
In the last five years, ACND has had a Speech and Debate national champion, three state champions and numerous national and state rankings. This year, the team was named the recipient of the National Forensic League Leading Chapter Award for the South Florida District. The honor, based on student participation and excellence, is the highest the National Forensic League bestows.
Archbishop Curley Notre Dame is a Catholic, co-educational,
college preparatory high school offering numerous extracurricular activities
and a full range of athletics. The
school is located in the heart of