SAN MARINO NEWS
By Mitch Lehman

For the first time in school history, the San Marino High School speech and debate team won first place sweepstakes honors in the AA division at a tournament held last week at the University of Santa Clara.
“This is a major accomplishment for the school and this district because California routinely produces several of the top high school speech and debate programs in the nation,” Superintendent Gary Woods told The Tribune.
Approximately two hundred high schools representing communities throughout Calirornia competed in the tournament. Twenty-five schools competed in the AAA division, 100 schools competed in AA division, and 75 schools competed in A division.
“Historically, San Marino’s speech team has been highly successful, so topping past performance is no simple matter,” said SMHS principal Loren Kleinrock. “The students and Coach [Oliver] Valcorza are to be highly commended for taking the program to another level of success. School state championships in anything are not easily won, so it is a credit to the hard work and dedication displayed by all involved in the program, including students, staff, and parents. We are excited about this new statement of excellence for the school and community.”
“All of our efforts have paid off!” declared Valcorza. “We dedicate our success to the entire SMHS community in recognition of your support.”
“We are extremely proud of our speech and debate students and their commitment to excellence,” Woods said. “We realize we have some of the best and brightest students in the state, and now we are starting to prove this on a competitive level. We owe a special thanks to Oliver Valcorza for his leadership of the program and the many parent volunteers who routinely give their time and money to support our students’ efforts.”