Blake Debate Wins State Again Sophomores Build Journaling Club

Two teams closeout final round of State

Claire Cao | Staff Writer

Blake Debate has won the varsity state tournament for the fourth year in a row and this year, two teams were in the final round– a closeout by Blake in the state tournament. Along with this recent win, several records have been broken. Shane Stafford , the director of the debate program, stated, “It was the first time that 4 women have been in public forum in the finals… It’s the first time I think somebody has won novice, JV and varsity twice. I also think it’s the first time that a JV team— Eva [Redmond ‘25] and Zellie [Olson ‘25] won both JV and… varsity states at the same time. So there are a lot of firsts.” Olson capitalized on the victory, “ It was super exciting espe- cially because this was mine and Eva’s first experience in state in the varsity level so it was very new for us.” Olson also further discussed the JV close-out, “Since last year we were very excited to go to JV states just because we have been debating in varsity in our novice year so we were excited to return… so when we were at JV, [we also closed] it out with…

Kaylee [Chen ‘25] and Ruhi [Kurdikar ‘25] .”

Sofia Perri ‘23 expresses her thoughts: “I’m very happy that Blake has been able to continue not just our legacy but also just kind of this streak and I think it’s just like a testament to how well our program works, how much effort and love our coaches give us as well as how hardworking our debaters are, and it’s really great to see that our hard work… [has] been paying off.”

Continued on blakespectrum.org

Eva Stegic | Arts & Culture Editor

There have been a multitude of new clubs this year, from Jewish Student Union to ASL Club. A group of three sophomores, Uma Bastodkar ‘25 , Lucia Heathcote ‘25 , and Emma Connor ‘25 , decided to take initiative and create the new and unique Journaling Club.

Bastodkar describes Journaling Club as “a chill space to unwind before school starts,” with the intention of the club being a community where students can journal (with or without prompts), relax, and maybe even do some morning yoga.

The three developed the idea together after hearing about a “Be Happy” club at one of their friends’ workplace.

Connor notes that they “interpreted it differently, and changed it to what [they enjoy],” creating a place to simply be positive in a welcoming environment. With candles, soft music, and hopefully some morning snacks, Bastodkar, Heathcote, and Connor have created a comfortable new environment for the Upper School students. The triad hopes to begin meeting Thursday mornings in health teacher Cris Larson’s room, but before they make it official, they want to hear input from their members to see what time would work well for them.

The three sophomores have also created an Instagram account, under the username “@ blakejournalingclub,” where they will be posting updates about how to join, when they will meet, and what they will be doing.