Montville Township High School senior Ananya Bhat placed 2nd in the Humorous Interpretation category at Yale University’s Speech and Debate Invitational. The four-day forensics competition was held September 29 through October 1, 2023, on the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. The Yale Invitational is a national-circuit high school tournament hosted by the Yale Debate Association. The Invitational hosts national and international students, and holds competitions in various debate and speech formats.
“When I made it to finals and realized I was top three on stage, I seriously was shocked. It was so unexpected to me,” Bhat said when asked about placing second in the Humorous Interpretation category. “But, I’m even more excited to see where my piece takes me the rest of the season.”
Bhat, who is the MTHS Forensics Team President for 2023-2024, also noted that, coming into the Yale Invitational, she had hoped she would do as well as she had last year and make it to the semi-finals.
“Forensics is such a huge part of my identity and I enjoy it so much!” Bhat said. “[Humorous] Interpretation gives me the creative freedom to be myself while also spreading a message through humor and audience connection.”
Every year the internationally ranked Yale Debate Association hosts over 500 high school student entries from around the world for the Yale Invitational. Students compete in individual categories. This year, the MTHS Forensics Team (a.k.a. Speech and Debate Team) sent 25 competitors to Yale, the team’s first national tournament of the year.
Bhat has been a competitor for the MTHS Forensics Team for all four years of her high school career. During middle school, Bhat was also a part of the summer outreach program for speech and debate hosted by the Montville Township Recreational Department.
“Ananya has been working hard this summer to perfect her piece for this year, and it paid off at the first national tournament of the season,” said MTHS Assistant Forensics Coach Alexandra Iemmello. Iemmello is also an MTHS Grade 11 Honors English, and Public Speaking I and II, teacher.
“Ananya is very dedicated to forensics and the MTHS Forensics Team,” Iemmello added “She was elected president of the team this year for her outgoing and hardworking personality.”
MTHS is home to nearly 1,100 students. The MTHS Forensics Team has 90 members for the 2023-2024 season.
“It is great to see students grow and succeed in Forensics!” noted Iemmello. ”Other MTHS Forensics Team members at the Yale Invitational made it to out rounds in other categories: Siddharth Srinivas broke to Octas in JV Lincoln Douglas debate, Charvi Kanna and Saanvi Naralesetti made it to Octas in JV Public Forum debate, and Prisha Malik made it to Triples in Varsity Lincoln Douglas debate.”
The Yale Invitational format is elimination based, with student’s competing one to one, and in small groups, through a series of competitive rounds, in their category, throughout the entire four-day event.
The Yale Invitational attracts national and international competitors. Those who place in finals get a bid to Nationals (NSDAs) at the end of the school year in June. Competitive categories at the Yale Invitational include: Congressional, Public Forum, Lincoln Douglas, Policy, Parliamentary Debate, Extemporaneous, Duo, Humorous Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Program Oral Interpretation, Oral Interpretation, Oratory, and Informative Speaking.
In addition to Iemmello, the MTHS Forensics Team is coached by high school history teacher Justin Scrufari and MTHS Forensics alumna Andrew Prescott.
Upcoming tournaments for the MTHS Forensics Team include: Phillipsburg at the end of October, Randolph in November, and another national tournament at Princeton University in December.
MTHS is one of seven schools in the Montville Township Public Schools pre-K to Grade 12 district. The district is home to over 3,400 students. Montville Township is located in Morris County, New Jersey.