North Allegheny recognized at national speech and debate championships

According to a news release on the district’s website, 18 members of the North Allegheny Speech and Debate Team turned in an impressive performance at the 2026 NSDA Speech & Debate National Championships, the world’s largest academic competition. North Allegheny was recognized as a Debate School of Honor and was one of only two Pennsylvania schools to win a School Recognition Award.

More than 6,000 students competed over a week in Richmond, Virginia, and four North Allegheny juniors placed in the top 14! Junior Ashish Raajiv Sai placed 10th in Extemporaneous Debate out of a field of more than 1,000 students, the best performance in that event in program history. Juniors Rishon Ghosh and Moki Annavajhula placed 13th in Public Forum out of more than 400 teams and earned an automatic bid to compete in the 2027 National Championships. Junior Sanjeev Arora was recognized as one of the Top 13 Lincoln-Douglas Speakers out of a field of more than 300 competitors. In addition, Ashish and his partner Aniketh Ghosh advanced to elimination rounds in Policy Debate, and Sanjeev and senior Anish Ramachandruni also advanced to elimination rounds in Extemporaneous Debate. The North Allegheny Speech and Debate Team is coached by Dominic Moore.