Caleb Chung - Student Spotlight

Success at the World Schools Debate

The Thursday before Thanksgiving Break Pine Creek’s Speech and Debate Team participated in a World Schools Debate.

At the last minute before the competition, when our Team was asked if any students would be willing to create a hybrid team with some students from Florida so they could still compete the other team could still participate, Caleb volunteered to step forward!

Caleb’s hybrid team went undefeated that night despite not knowing each other ahead of time and having only minutes to collaborate on strategies before the competition.

Community Involvement

Caleb’s willingness to jump in and participate isn’t limited to this event, however. In addition to participating in the Speech and Debate Team, Caleb is also the district Vice President for Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), Pine Creek Student Council President for the Junior Class and is a member of the National English Honor Society and National Spanish Honor Society.

Teen Court Volunteer

In the wider Colorado Springs community, Caleb is a volunteer at Teen Court, an organization that attempts to address first-time misdemeanor offenses committed by juveniles using a restorative justice approach. From Caleb’s perspective the organization aims to help set people on a better path, redress broken relationships, and amend the community.

“Teen Court offered me a glimpse into other people's worlds, taught me empathy, and gave me a broader understanding,” Caleb said. “I realize that situations are so much more complex than I once thought they were.” Caleb indicated that Teen Court had helped him address questions such as, “As a bystander, how do I understand what's going on? How do I understand how I should respond?”

World Vision Volunteer

At the national level, Caleb has volunteered with World Vision since 5th grade in order to assist with clean water perils experienced in Rwanda. “In fifth grade I learned there were millions of people in Africa who didn’t have access to clean drinking water,” Caleb said. “And I wanted to do something about it!”

With the help of his parents, Caleb started running half marathons to raise money for one of World Vision’s clean water projects in Rwanda. Since that time he has run four different half marathons and raised roughly $80,000 for clean water. “Recently they announced they’ve secured enough funding go be the first African country to have 100% access to clean water,” he said. Caleb indicated that he likes World Vision’s model because they equip people with the tools they need, train local groups, and then move out, creating opportunities for sustainable growth. “It’s about community development rather than just aiding,” Caleb said.

Speech and Debate Accolades

Caleb’s success on the hybrid team at the World Schools Debate is only one of many accolades he’s attained since becoming involved in Speech and Debate. Having attended D20 schools since kindergarten, Caleb first participated in Forensics at Challenger Middle School with Ms. Laura Murray as the team’s coach. Under her guidance he not only entered local competitions, but also had the opportunity to compete at the national level.

It was only natural that Caleb would join the Speech and Debate Team as a freshmen at Pine Creek. Engaging in as many competitions as he could led to a culminating event in March of 2020: earning the title of State Champion in International Extemporaneous Speaking!

"Modern Day Hamiltons"

Although International Extemporaneous Speaking has typically been Caleb’s main event in high school, the speech Caleb was most passionate about last season was one that fell into the category of Original Oratory and spoke on a larger issue: Immigration.

Caleb’s speech, "Modern Day Hamiltons," aimed at humanizing the immigrant’s journey as well as laying the foundation for what it means to be an immigrant in today’s society.

 “Being the child of an immigrant and refugee, I believe it's a broader issue,” Caleb said. “It's always discussed as a statistic, but what doesn't get told is the stories of people.”

“Modern Day Hamiltons” placed at multiple Denver Tournaments, including the Mile High Invitational and Colorado Cup. It also won the NSDA National Qualifier and placed first at the regional tournament. Part of the speech was also shared with the D20 School Board during a School Board Spotlight in the spring of 2020.

Why join Speech and Debate?

When asked why a student might consider joining Speech and Debate, Caleb had the following to say:

“The goal of Speech and Debate is not only to learn how to use your own voice, but also to equip you with tools you'll need to know how to use in the future.” Skills such as, “learning how to cut through the noise and share your voice, learning how to listen, and learning how your own narrative interacts with the narratives with other people,” are invaluable!

Go, Eagles!