Over the past weekend, the Van Nuys High School National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) team made their way to the State Qualifiers competition, where nine of the members officially qualified for state.

State Qualifiers is part of the TCFL League, a branch of California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) — Area III. In total, 22 schools competed in this area.

The State Competition will be held from April 17 to 19, 2026. The NSDA team’s coach, Mr. Angelino Simbulan, shared his admiration for the team’s growth and work over time.

“I’m so proud of how many students were able to prove that they had been using their time in Advanced Speech, afterschool through the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP) and other planned meetings to earn their way to state,” he said.

Simbulan was glad to finally show the team’s abilities and what makes them so great.

“After going to five league tournaments, our students were finally able to show how amazing they are in front of three judges per round,” he said. “This really shows how great the NSDA team is.”

Freshman Trystan Tabaddor, another qualifier, saw her placement in the competition as proof of just how much her work over the school year has helped her improve and reach such a great achievement.

“This placement meant that all my hard work and perseverance throughout the last semester meant something,” she said. “After all the stress I went through to get to this spot, the fact that I’m a freshman and able to go to state is a big honor.”

The list of students who qualified for state included the following:
Iona Hersh (12th) – Program Oral Interpretation
Oliver Barrett (11th) – Duo Interpretation
Trystan Tabaddor (9th) – Duo Interpretation
France Liong (9th) – Original Prose and Poetry
Anderson Urquilla (12th) – Original Prose and Poetry
Greg Danian (10th) – Impromptu
Eric Danian (10th) – Declamation
Guinevere Alexander (12th) – Duo Interpretation
Brianne Tolentino (12th) – Duo Interpretation