Seniors Sean Gassman and Clay Parker, with help from sophomore Zachary Farrell, are hosting the National Speech and Debate Association LBJ District National Qualifying Tournament at the high school on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

This isn’t the first tournament Gassman has been trusted with. Earlier this year, he organized the Leopard Leap Speech and Debate tournament for his senior project, and he started his training last year.

“There was a senior last year who held a tournament for their senior project, then I thought I was going to do it as my senior project,” Gassman said. “So last year, my junior year, I decided to start doing it. The first time was rough, then the second time– junior year– it was better.”

Because Sean and Clay are both seniors, they won’t be able to uphold the tradition of planning the tournament next year. Luckily, Farrell chimed in and Parker and Gassman have taken this tournament as an opportunity to show Zachary the ropes of running a national debate tournament.

“I think that running this tournament for the next two years is important because not only does it teach me experiences that I need to more effectively better myself in debate, it allows me to learn more about the school in different ways that one would normally expect,” said Farrell.