Notable Achievements
Parkway West Forensics Hall of Fame
State Tournament
Yearly, the Parkway West Forensics team qualifies team members to the Missouri State High School Activities Association state tournament. This is a list of recent notable finishes at the state tournament:
2021 - State Team Sweeps - 3rd in Speech, 2nd in Debate
2021 - Poetry Reading - Grace O'Connor - STATE CHAMP
2021 - Radio Speaking - Ulaa Kuziez - STATE CHAMP
2021 - Public Forum Debate - Zoey Womick & Laura Young - STATE CHAMPS
2021 - International Extemp - Kathryn McAuliffe (2nd Place)
2021 - Policy Debate - Tyler Kinzy & Yusuf Hacking (4th Place)
2019 - Policy Debate - Gokul Venkatachalam & Jon Ma (4th Place)
2018 - Policy Debate - Gokul Venkatachalam & Haran Kumar (4th Place)
2017 - Poetry Reading - Jesse Calvert (3rd Place)
2016 - Public Forum Debate - Nick Chiu & Kent Robinson (4th Place)
2016 - Poetry Reading - Jesse Calvert (4th Place)
2016 - Domestic Extemp - Robbie Lasky (3rd Place)
2014 - Original Oratory - Noreen Webster - STATE CHAMP
2014 - Policy Debate - Keerthi Gondi & Laura Santangelo - STATE CHAMPS
2014 - International Extemporaneous Speaking - Keerthi Gondi (6th place)
2014 - Dramatic Interpretation - Yasmin Younis (8th place)
2013- Duet Acting- Rigel Robinson and Yasmin Younis (8th Place)
2013- Humorous Interpretation-Rigel Robinson (4th Place)
2012- Original Oratory- Annie Schuver - STATE CHAMP
2012- Policy Debate- Maggie Thomas and Megan Hornsby - STATE CHAMPS
2011 - Original Oratory - Talan Tyminski (4th place)
2010 - Storytelling - Julie Schnieder (4th place)
2009 - Radio Speaking - Stuart Portman (4th place)
2007 - Public Forum Debate - Bukola Jimoh & Will Lounsbury - STATE CHAMPS
2006 - Prose Reading - Alice Stanley - STATE CHAMP
2006- Lincoln-Douglas Debate - Osman Chaudry (2nd Place)
2004 - Duet Acting - Navin Choski & Ryan Doris (3rd Place)
1999 - Humorous Interpretation - Nick Choski - STATE CHAMP
1999 - Radio Speaking - Erin Guyer - STATE CHAMP
1999 - Reader's Theatre - STATE CHAMPS
1991 - Original Oratory - Lisa Williams - STATE CHAMP
1991 - Reader's Theatre - STATE CHAMPS
1990 - Prose Reading - Julia Helfrich - STATE CHAMP
1984 - Duet Acting - Ann Otto & Jeff Pohl - STATE CHAMPS
1975 - Policy Debate STATE CHAMPS
1974 - Policy Debate STATE CHAMPS
National Tournament (NSDA) Rankings
2014 - Humorous Interpretation - Rigel Robinson - Semifinalist, 8th Place
2013 - Extemp Debate - Scott Lasky - Semifinalist, Top 13
2012 - Congressional Debate - Parag Dharmavarapu - Finalist
2010 - Congressional Debate - Rajiv Tarigopula - Finalist
2006 - Dramatic Interpretation - Alice Stanley - Finalist, 3rd Place
2006 - Public Forum - Alex Huntstein & Richard Lowry - 11th Place
Matthew Viglione Scholarship:
This award goes to a Parkway West Speech & Debate team member who has exemplified the qualities of leadership and communication, creating friendly relationships and helping those around him or her. This award is in honor of a former Parkway West team member, Matthew Viglione.
2021 - Tyler Kinzy
2020 - Jon Ma
2019 - Gokul Venkatachalam
2018 - Cheryl Ma
2017 - Jesse Calvert
2016 - Robbie Lasky
2015 - Amos Chen
2014 -Rigel Robinson
2013- Scott Lasky
2012- Elani Owen
2011- Junaid Yasin
2010- Rajiv Tarigopula
2009- Stuart Portman
2008- Sara Baker
2007- Horan Li
2006- Richard Lowry
2004- Adrianne May
2003- Stasek Levchinsky
2002- Ashley Oppenheim
2001- James Bosanquet
2000- Matthew Markowitz
1999- Erin Guyer
1998- Leigh-Anne Herz
1997- Jacob Stutzman
1996- Anvir Rahman
1995- Jesse Kharbana
Department Award
2021 - Tyler Kinzy
2020 - Jon Ma
2019 - Gokul Venkatachalam
2018 - Haran Kumar
2017 - Jesse Calvert
2016 - Nick Chiu
2015 - Amos Chen
2014 - Rigel Robinson
2013- Annie Schuver
2012- Elani Owen
2011- Saad Amir
2010- Jake Lyonfields
2009- Stacey Luo
Team Awards
Best Varsity Debater
- 2021 - Laura Young
- 2020 - Jon Ma
- 2019 - Gokul Venkatachalam
- 2018 - Haran Kumar
- 2017 - Cheryl Ma
- 2016 - Nick Chiu
- 2015 - Amos Chen
- 2014 - Keerthi Gondi
- 2013 -
Best Varsity Events
- 2021 - Kathryn McAuliffe
- 2020 - Grace O'Connor
- 2019 - Kristina Humphrey
- 2018 - Ryan O'Connor
- 2017 - Jesse Calvert
- 2016 - Robbie Lasky
- 2015 - Kent Robinson
- 2014 - Rigel Robinson
- 2013 - Rigel Robinson
Best Novice Debater
- 2021 - Krish Bhagat
- 2020 - Noah Schell
- 2019 - Sarah Sun
- 2018 - Tyler Kinzy
- 2017 - Anjali Shah
- 2016 - Ryan O'Connor
- 2015 - Haran Kumar
- 2014 - Chiron Robinson
Best Novice Events
- 2021 - Paige Matthys-Pearce
- 2020 - Santi Lugo
- 2019 - Ellie Martin
- 2018 - Grace O'Connor & Zoey Womick
- 2017 - Jon Ma
- 2016 - Bharat Sreekrishnavilas
- 2015 - Yash Nayak
- 2014 - Tanya Esmiel
Unsung Hero
- 2021 - Tyler Kinzy & Sophie Kucukkaya
- 2020 - Areeb Hasan
- 2019 - Amina Aser
- 2018 - Yusuf Hacking
- 2017 - Nick Bateman
- 2016 - Julia Li
- 2015 - Shubham Vyas
- 2014 - Noreen Webster
- 2013 - Woody Metcalf & Sarah Bennett
Elected Officers
- 2021-2022: Kayvon Rezaei, Santi Lugo, Paige Matthys-Pearce, Noah Schell
- 2020-2021: Yusuf Hacking, Tyler Kinzy, Ella Seigel, Laura Young
- 2019-2020: Ronik Bhaskar, Tyler Kinzy, Jon Ma, Ella Seigel
- 2018-2019: Luke Donovan, Kristina Humphrey, Jon Ma, Gokul Venkatachalam
- 2017-2018: Nick Bateman, Cheryl Ma, Ryan O'Connor, Gokul Venkatachalam
- 2016-2017: Jesse Calvert, Kent Robinson, Mary Steurer, Liza Tarakanova
- 2015-2016: Andrew Impastato, Julia Li, Nick Santangelo, Bryan Zhang
- 2014-2015: Sharoze Amir, Amos Chen, Andrew Impastato
- 2013- 2014: Keerthi Gondi, Rigel Robinson, Laura Santangelo, Yasmin Younis
- 2012-2013: Tim Hu, Greg Piccirillo, Annie Schuver, Joanne Yu
- 2011-2012: Parag Dharmavarapu, Winston Luo, Elani Owen, James Wang
- 2010-2011: Saad Amir, Winston Luo, Elani Owen
- 2009-2010: Jake Lyonfields, Rajiv Tarigopula
- 2008-2009: Adam Friedman, Stacey Luo, Stuart Portman, Patrick Zhang
Team Honors
Parkway West High School was officially inaugurated into the National Forensics League on June 30th, 1970. In 2014 they attended their 40th National Tournament!
At the 2006 National Forensics League National Speech Tournament, Parkway West recieved an award for distinction as a School of Excellence in Debate!
Since 2010, Parkway West High School's NFL Chapter was officially designated a member of the Two Hundred Club. This is an award for maintaining a large, successful program.
The Parkway West High School NFL chapter has recieved National Awards for Excellence in Speech three times: 1976-1982, 1983-1993, 1993-2006, and 2006-2020.
In 2019, head coach Cara Borgsmiller was named the NSDA National Speech & Debate Coach of the Year.