Speech & Debate + Public Speaking | Laurel School in Shaker Hts 44122 Ohio

Speech Curriculum

Students in Eleventh Grade Guidance create and deliver an Inspire Each Girl presentation on the topic of their choice as part of the college guidance process in preparation for interviews and as a precursor to the Senior Speech.
Each Senior creates and delivers a 10-12 minute presentation on a topic of her choice to the Upper School student and faculty body. In honoring tradition as well as student voice and choice, in addition to a traditional speech, options include a TEDTalk and a performing arts/visual presentation with a verbal artistic statement. Nearly all alumnae point to this tradition as being invaluable in giving them the skills to speak in a public forum.

Interscholastic Speech and Debate

Laurel’s Speech and Debate team competes under the Ohio Speech and Debate Association and the National Speech and Debate Association. The program has been ranked in the top 10% of all programs nationally for 5 consecutive years.
Approximately 30 to 40 students participate in Speech and Debate each year, making the team both the largest co-curricular program and the largest competitive team in the school. Approximately 20-25% of Laurel students participate in Speech and Debate during their Upper School careers. Any student who wishes to participate may do so.
The season lasts from September through March, with tournaments each weekend from late October through early March. Each student practices twice per week during this time.
Experienced team members occasionally have opportunities to compete in prestigious national circuit tournaments. Recently, Laurel has competed at tournaments in Connecticut (Yale University) and Massachusetts (Harvard), with students advancing to elimination rounds at both competitions.
In the 2024-2025 season, 15 Laurel students qualified to the OSDA State Tournament and 5 qualified to the NSDA National Tournament. The team finished as the #1 all girls school in the state. 5 students advanced to elimination rounds, with 2 finishing in the Top 6 competitors of their events.
In the last two summers, Ella Witalec '25 was Laurel's first ever National Finalist and Semifinalist, finishing in 6th and 12th at the National Speech and Debate Tournament.
Also at the 2025 National Tournament, Ana Rubio-Calvillo '27 and Hannah Rosenfeld '27 finished as Octofinalists, with Hannah Rosenfeld automatically qualifying to the 2026 National Tournament.
Laurel School was named a 2024 National Speech School of Honor and 2023 National Debate School of Honor.
Laurel has consistently ranked in the top five teams in the Cleveland district. Laurel has crowned four state champions (including the 2023 State Champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate and the 2024 State Champion in United States Extemporaneous Speaking), numerous state finalists and many district champions. In every year from 2017 through 2025, more than one-third of the Laurel team qualified for the state tournament. Laurel students have debated at the City Club of Cleveland five times, including winning the championship in 2014.

Speech at Laurel

Speech Curriculum

Interscholastic Speech and Debate

Lyman Campus | Laurel School

Butler Campus | Laurel School