Communications Success Stories

DVC speech and debate team - Northern California Forensics Association National Tournament for Community Colleges 

Reno, Nevada, April 8-13

DVC's Nicole Sims was awarded Overall National Champion and Top Speaker in the country, a first for DVC! Congratulations to all who participated and for placing third in the country, a school best!

Overall National Champion and Top Speaker: Nicole Sims
Team Sweep Stakes: Third Place - DVC

Speech to Entertain
Chris Pratt – Gold (National Champ!)
Nicole Sims – Gold
Yuya Shimbori – Silver

Prose Interpretation
Chris Pratt – Gold (National Champ!)

Duo Interpretation
Sydney Alexander and Nicole Sims - Gold

Poetry Interpretation
Nicole Sims – Gold
Matt Denny – Gold
Sydney Alexander - Bronze

Dramatic Interpretation
Nicole Sims - Gold
Miranda Hansen - Bronze

Readers Theater
Justin Crawford, Tanya Prabhakar, Matt Denny – Silver

International Public Debate
Eric Tubbs – Silver
Andrew Shin – Bronze
Tanya Prabhakar - Bronze

Extemporaneous Speaking
Andrew Shin - Silver

Program Oral Interpretation
Vegas Darst-Horn – Bronze
Sydney Alexander – Bronze
La La Miller – Bronze

DVC speech and debate team - California Community College Forensics Association (CCCFA) Individual state champs, second place overall

DVC had a historic run at the California Community College State Championships March 14-17, 2019 in Woodland Hills, CA, at the Woodland Hills Marriott. We placed second as a team, a personal best for DVC!

DVC also had several state championships. We are so proud of all DVC students who participated and we look forward to the upcoming National Tournament for Community Colleges in Reno, Nevada, April 8-13. Nationals here we come!

 

Overall Sweepstakes
Diablo Valley College – Second Place

Overall Top Speakers
Nicole Sims and Chris Pratt

Duo Interpretation
Matthew Denny and Nicole Sims – State Champions
Vegas Darst-Horn and Justin Crawford – Bronze Medalist
Chris Pratt and Matthew Denny - Bronze Medalist
Sydney Alexander and Nicole Sims - Bronze Medalist

Speech to Entertain
Nicole Sims – State Champion
Chris Pratt – Gold Medalist
Yuya Simbori – Silver Medalist

Prose Interpretation
Miranda Hansen – Gold Medalist
Chris Pratt – Gold Medalist
La La Miller – Silver Medalist

Dramatic Interpretation
Chris Pratt – Gold Medalist
Nicole Sims – Gold Medalist
Tanya Prabhakar – Silver Medalist

IPDA Debate
Tanya Prabhakar – Silver Medalist
Gabriel Zimmerman – Bronze Medalist
Eric Tubbs – Bronze Medalist

Poetry Interpretation
Sydney Alexander – Silver Medalist

Program Oral Interpretation
Matthew Denny – Bronze Medalist

Persuasive Speaking
Cierra White – Bronze Medalist

Parliamentary Debate
Eric Tubbs and Gabriel Zimmerman – Bronze Medalist

Director of Speech and Debate: Robert Hawkins
Assistant Directors: Blake Longfellow and Reed Ramsey

DVC speech and debate team - Northern California Forensics Association

First place overall champions

Over the last three years the DVC's speech and debate team (also known as forensics) has become the most dominant team in northern California. This last weekend the 40+ person team won their third consecutive NCFA Championship, crowning DVC the undisputed champions of NorCal.

The DVC community college students defeated students from UC Berkeley, the University of the Pacific and many other universities and community colleges. Not only did DVC win overall as a team by almost double the next closest team's score, but many individual students were named champions in their specific events.

The forensics team competes in a wide range of events, each emphasizing different communication and critical thinking skills, and displayed excellence across all of them. This northern California championship is also a great opportunity for alumni to come out to support the team. Multiple alumni of the forensics team, across multiple eras of the teams illustrious history, helped serve as judges for the tournament and offer words of wisdom as the students head into competition.

Below is a list of the team's accomplishments from the NCFA Championship. Send your support to the team as they head off to State and Nationals, or consider joining the team next fall by enrolling on COMM 163 or emailing rhawkins@dvc.edu for more information.

DVC’s 2019 Northern California speech and debate winners:

First place overall champions (x3 Peat)

 

 

Overall Speaker

Second: Place Nicole Sims

Student Fellowship Award Winner

First: Place Nicole Sims

Open Duo Interpretation

First: Chris Pratt and Matt Denny
Second: Sydney Alexander And Nicole Sims
Third: Nicole Sims and Matt Denny
Fourth: Vegas Darst-Horn And Justin Crawford

Open Dramatic Interpretation

First: Nicole Sims
Second: Chris Pratt
Third: Justin Crawford
Fourth: Miranda Hansen

Open Informative Speaking
First: Cierra White

Open After Dinner Speaking
First: Nicole Sims

Open Persuasive Speaking
Fifth: Cierra White

Open Communication Analysis
Third: Miranda Hansen

Open Prose
Third: Miranda Hansen
Fifth: Vegas Darst-Horn

Open Program Oral Interpretation
Second: Sydney Alexander

Junior Varsity Parliamentary Debate
Third: Eric Tubbs and Gabriel Zimmerman

JV Parliamentary Debate Speaker
Second: Place Gabriel Zimmerman
Ninth: Place Eric Tubbs  

Novice Extemporaneous Speaking
First: Gabriel Zimmerman

Novice Program Oral Interpretation
First: La La Miller
Second: Elva Gonzales

Novice Persuasive Speaking
First: Anastasia Tejada
Second: Ariel Tonessi

Novice Informative Speaking
Second: Sarah Richards
Fourth: Haley Burr

Novice Prose Interpretation
Second: La La Miller
Third: Layla Keshavarz-Fard
Fifth: Yuya Shimbori

Novice Poetry Interpretation
Second: Paola Lopez