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This year senior Alanna Vaglica has been chosen by the University of Pittsburgh to represent Bellwood Antis at the annual College in High School Argument Forum.

In March, she participated in school wide debates in front of the Bellwood-Antis student body put on by the CHS Argument and Rhetoric class through the University of Pittsburgh led by Mr. Kerry Naylor.

Tapes of the debate were sent to the university and evaluated by the speech professors and their students. They chose 20 students from Western Pennsylvania, and Alanna was chosen from Bellwood.

Alanna said she was really excited to be given the opportunity to take this class at Bellwood.

“Although at first I wasn’t the best, I learned so much from Mr. Naylor and hope to use this knowledge in my college career, as I’m pursuing political science. I appreciate everyone who supported me, and gave me the confidence to do well,” Alanna said.

The topic for her school-wide debate was whether or not a thorough education in the arts should be a requirement for graduation.

The class provides all participating schools with a theme for school-wide debates each year, and this year’s debate theme was “High schools properly empower students to control their futures.”

On April 10, Alanna will be going to the University of Pittsburgh for a day long training where she will meet her teammates and find her role on the team. Then on May 3rd she will travel to North Allegheny High School to participate in the actual debate.

“I’m really proud of Alanna for being selected to participate in the debate in Pittsburgh,” commented Mr. Naylor. “She has been a class leader this year and has grown as an arguer and presenter every time she has debated. She will be a model representative for Bellwood-Antis.”

“I’ll definitely remember this experience,” Alanna said.

We wish Alanna the best of luck on this outstanding accomplishment!