Team Officers

Team activities, such as fund raising, community service, and recruitment are supported by the club officers. Below is an introduction from each of this year's officers.

President- Nicole Fisher

I’m Nicole Fisher, and I’m a senior and the President of MHS Speech and Debate. My passion for debate stems from that fact that I truly believe in the power of persuasion and effective language. In essence… I’m an English nerd. Since entering high school, I have exercised my right to write through debate and journalism. In journalism, I served as the Co-Editor-In-Chief. I was elected as the Director of Public Relations in debate my sophomore year, and I worked to help the team gain exposure via print and new media. This will be my second year acting as the president of MHS4N6. Apart from debate and journalism, I was involved with Student Council as the class of 2012’s Treasurer.

Since a young age, politics has played a vital role in my life. I’ve been attending political rallies and shaking politicians’ hands since before I can remember. Throughout the years, I’ve worked on several state legislature campaigns and have even traveled to New Mexico to work on Obama’s Presidential campaign. I spent my junior year as the intern for Emerge Arizona, a program that identifies, educates, and inspires democratic women to run for office. This year, I’m thrilled to be interning for Ann Kirkpatrick’s Congressional campaign in District 1.

I also love to swim, read, and sleep. Yet in the midst of senior year and too many AP classes… I doubt I’ll accomplish any of these things. A girl can hope though, right?

Vice President- Alexa Curran

Hello! My name is Alexa Curran and I am a Senior at Mesquite High School. For the 2011-2012 season I am honored to hold the title of Vice President of the Mesquite Speech and Debate team. Speech has been my life for these past 4 years and I have dedicated every ounce of time I have to it, I eat sleep and breathe this team- I am addicted and proud. I believe that every performance and every debate round that our team members participate in will shape them into the people they are and will become.

I have worked diligently to help my team grow and mature. This past year I coached nonstop afterschool and made sure our team knew, that above all else humility is what you should wish to accomplish at the end of the tournament, leave it all on the floor- No regrets. This year I promise to instill the same lesson in all our members.

I am an AP kid and I am also very involved with our theatre department and the A World of Difference program at Mesquite. I give my heart to the particular activities I choose to be involved in, and MHS4N6 definitely has so much of my love. I can't wait for this season; we are going to dominate and create a loving family!

Treasurer- Tina Cai

I am Tina Cai and I am a Senior- Go 2012! I have been the Speech & Debate Treasurer for the past two years. I have been competing Lincoln Douglas(LD) debate since Freshman year. However, the first tournament I competed at, I did Varsity PFD and that was honestly very daunting! Regardless of that day, I still continued doing debate because it is so rewarding. The simple decision of joining has affected my life so much that I couldn’t imagine living without it. I am not exaggerating when I say that joining is one of my best decisions ever. Over the past three years, I have met intelligent and talented people, went days without sleep, spent my breaks writing cases and cutting cards(you’ll understand), and stayed after school for debate practices but in the end it made me more confident and shaped me into the person I am today.

Apart from debate, I was a Freshman representative in Student Council, and I was VP of Academic Decathlon and now the President. I have also been on the school’s swim team since Freshman year. Volunteering is a passion of mine because I enjoy helping others. I also love staying active, whether it's shopping, running or playing tag with my sister. One of my favorite hobbies is singing and my ultimate favorite thing to do is swim and I have been doing it ever since I was six years old. I look forward to meeting everyone on the team! :)

Secretary- Michael Ippolito

I’m Michael Ippolito, and I’m a junior and the Secretary of MHS Speech and Debate. My various passions for debate stem from my desire to increase my knowledge of the world around me, the ability to present and persuade ideas to others, and prepare myself for a career one day. My large, if not dominate passion, is philosophy. Philosophy has given me many new and innovative ways to act and live my life as well as think. Thinking, albeit nerdy, is another passion of mine and something I often indulge in too frequently. This will be my third year in MHS Speech and Debate and first serving as an officer and I currently will be serving MHS Academic Decathlon as Vice President as well.

As a child, I often wanted to learn things few others my age would care about; from reading books about the presidents as a child to recording Jeopardy daily, knowledge is something I’ve been in constant pursuit. Politics, economics, and history are three areas I love learning about and as the 2012 election nears I will be volunteering for the Ron Paul campaign.

On the lighter side, I enjoy sports and fantasy sports, and classic literature, especially English and Russian, as well as classic rock and classical music. I just hope I can find a balance between the horrid junior year workload, and play, while at the same time, helping elevate MHS Speech and Debate to heights never seen before.