Article Written by Destanee Luetkenhaus
Speech and debate: where only a few of participants are competing for medals.
“It [speech/debate] has a competitive drive with a medal at the end. The only way a participant succeeds is if they try. Competitive speech and debate gives students an opportunity to find their own voices and an avenue to define and refine that voice. Too many students go through high school without an understanding how to critically think about what happens in the world, without an understanding how they can make a positive impact on others, without a grasp of how they can use words to be part of something larger than themselves. Speech and debate gives students a platform to use their voices. I am always amazed by students who come to their first speech or debate meeting or practice looking afraid and timid, and years later are the most well-spoken, engaging students in their classes. I love when other teachers praise speech and debate kids for their ability to analyze concepts and communicate those to their peers and their teachers,“ Chris Begeman, speech and debate coach, said.
“Debate is hard sometimes but after you get what is going on, it becomes really fun,” Katelin Russell, freshman, said.
There are different forms of debate and speech. For instance, in debate there is public forum, congress, policy, etc. For speech there is entertainment, informative, persuasive, and so forth. These clubs really benefit a student and helps them be more outgoing. They also develop verbal and social skills.
The debaters are getting ready for their December tournaments. They are going to Lincoln Southwest on December 10. They prepare their debates to try their hardest to persuade the judge to vote for their case. Best luck to the debaters in their third tournament. For the debaters first two competitions, they took first place honors and a runner-up finish. A big congratulations to everyone competing in speech and debate. Also, a big thank you to the coaches for preparing the students for what they need to know.
The topic for their next debate is “Plan Colombia.” Plan Colombia is a big issue in the world today. Most people do not even know what it is. A quick search and one could easily know. Debate students are having a fun time with this topic. It is easy to learn about, there are pros and cons to debate. It really helps the debater to know about the topic.
The speech and debate coaches really help prepare students for success. All in all, being on the team helps students develop their verbal, social, and academic skills.
For more great articles written by NHS students, see the December 2016 Panther Newspaper!
