Academic Teams

Do you have a flair for the spoken word?  Maybe you like to win every argument. Speech and Debate combines public speaking, acting, and arguing all in one competitive sport.

In traditional Speech & Debate, students can take three “tracks”: Speech, Oral Interpretation, and Debate. In Speech, competitors craft a persuasive or informative speech and then present it to judges. Dependent on the specific event, these speeches are either written on the spot or carefully curated over the year. In the Oral Interpretation events, competitors take pieces of literature and poetry and present their interpretation of them in a 10-minute scene either by themselves or with a partner. In Debate, students work as a team to prove their side of an argument against another school’s team.

Mock trial is also the name of an extracurricular program in which students participate in rehearsed trials to learn about the legal system competitively. Interscholastic mock trials occur on all levels, including primary school, middle school, high school, college, and law school. 

Competitive mock trial functions in yearly cycles. Each year, a case packet is distributed to all participating schools in late summer to early fall. The case packet is a series of documents, including the charges, penal code, stipulations, case law, jury instructions, and all exhibits and affidavits relevant to the case. During a mock trial, competitors are restricted to only the materials provided in the case packet and may not reference any outside sources. Teams thoroughly read and analyze the case packet to prepare for the competition.

For more information on the  Contra Costa County Mock Trial, click here.

A poetry slam is a competitive art event in which poets perform spoken word poetry before a live audience and a panel of judges. While formats can vary, slams are often loud and lively, with audience participation, cheering and dramatic delivery. 

Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation and word play, such as the performer's live intonation and voice inflection. Spoken word is a "catchall" term that includes any kind of poetry recited aloud, including poetry readings, poetry slams, jazz poetry, and hip hop music, and can include comedy routines and prose monologues.

Science Olympiad is an American team competition in which students compete in 23 events about various fields of science, including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering.

In its inaugural year of 2023, students from CVCHS competed at the first in-person invitational event at UC Davis. The team enjoyed the invitational and placed 11th in Cell Bio out of 50 schools that attended the invitational. Other honorable mentions include 12th place in Write-It-Do-It (one of the competition's events) and 19th place in Anatomy & Physiology. The CVCHS PFC supports this team.