Talking, talking, talking, it’s something we all do in our lives daily. It’s how we communicate what we want, feel, or think. That’s called conversation, but said conversation is usually simplified and it doesn’t usually go into depth.
Yet there is one club at Coral Glades High School that takes talking to a whole new level, that being Debate Club. According to its website, the club prides itself in using critical thinking skills paired with public speaking to compete in events based on current events and policies.
To go into more detail, the Debate Club doesn’t just do debate, it also practices speech. You see, this club follows events organized by the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA), specifically tournaments, but more on that later.
Anyway since the club follows the NSDA, the club has 2 sections of events with their subsections, that being speech and debate. According to the NSDA, the speech event is about giving a public address by yourself or with a partner to another pair or person doing the same thing, both doing so in front of a judge.
And, by their own words, the event is about “a speech written by the student, either in advance or with limited preparation, that can answer and question, share a belief, persuade an audience, or educate the listener on a variety of topics.”
But there’s also interpretation, mainly when a person or a duo does acting, kind of like theater. Next there’s the debate event, debate is when a person or a team of people go up against another person or team of people to convince a judge that their side is correct.
Debate participants must make their points based on well-researched facts, that way an informed argument can take place and the teams can hope that the judge likes their points better than the opposition.
Finally, there are tournaments. Students going to tournaments can partake in an event of their choice. These events usually take place once or twice a month depending on which tournament you go to and on top of that, you must pay to go.
I also asked 2 people in the Debate club on how they would describe the debate club. Luke Pfeiffer is in the 12th grade and he said “Saturday morning at 6:30 am, my alarm rings. I jump out of bed excited to go to the debate competition, I get my suit on ready to win, and I tell myself that I’m prepared and that I will win. This is part of my experience with this club and throughout my time in the club, I enjoy going to various tournaments and meeting people along the way.”
I had also asked the Debate Club leader, Mrs Lehrman, on how she would describe the debate club and she said “The debate club is where students can come together and work with each other to sharpen their argumentative skills and learn to speak with confidence and style which will prepare them in their everyday life, school, and future.”
In conclusion, the Debate Club is all about improving your thinking, researching, and speaking skills to better yourself, as well as making friends along the way. Something super important in all walks of life.
