Roosevelt Debater Voted State Senior of the Year

Roosevelt High School senior Catherine Chiodo was named the Iowa Speech and Debate Senior of the Year at the All Iowa Finals debate competition on March 5. Iowa Speech and Debate coaches voted for her to be the Senior of the Year because of her impact on the national extemporaneous speaking circuit this season. Amongst Chiodo’s accomplishments this season was an invitation to the MBA Extemp Round Robin, an indication of being in the Top 16 in the nation.

Chiodo’s point total at the end of her high school career will put her in the top five in the history of the Roosevelt High School Debate program. In addition, she has earned more speech and debate points than any other female student at Roosevelt High School.

“Catherine has been a force in the Roosevelt program for four seasons,” said Harry Strong, Roosevelt High School debate coach. “She has been a leader of a senior debate class at Roosevelt that has substantially rewritten the Roosevelt record books.”

Chiodo has two tournaments remaining in her high school career: The Tournament of Champions in May and the NFL National Tournament in June. She has received several scholarship offers to compete in college but has not yet made a decision.