CHS Forensics team welcomes English teacher Mr. Marquez as their new sponsor after the team dwindled in numbers over the past few years.

Forensics, while many people may first believe it to be about crime scenes and investigations, is actually a competitive public speaking team that competes against other Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS), as well as the additional possibility of competing in the state competition hosted by the Tidewater organization for the Virginia High School League (VHSL). Just like any other state sanctioned sport or activity, tournaments include local schools who they compete against in order to move forward.

“I plan to turn the Forensics team around by recruiting talented people who are interested in public speaking and focusing on 9th and 10th grades to prepare the team for upcoming years,” Marquez said.

Forensics holds events from September to March and is always recruiting for upcoming seasons.  The club has multiple categories per event such as humorous drama, drama storytelling, and extemporaneous speaking, which in its diversity can appeal to many students in some capacity. If the team qualifies, student members will have the opportunity to participate in city and state competitions that will first be held in VBCPS, then moving to competitions in Chesapeake.

The judges include English teachers from around the district —which vary each round— and who score the teams and give points based on a variety of sections. Some include volume, rate of speech, how dramatic and compelling a student can be, often including facial expressions and hand gestures.

“Forensics club is an opportunity to socialize with peers and is a very genuine and welcoming atmosphere at competitions,” forensics member and sophomore Molly Rotella said.

Individuals are scored separately for different categories that contribute to the team’s total by the end of the competition.

According to Marquez, colleges love to see forensics on an application because it shows that students actively participated on a public speaking while in high school.