I am involved in lots of other activities.  How can I participate in speech and debate too?
Speech and debate are some of the most flexible co-curricular activities you can participate in.  It’s not like being on a sports team where you must attend practices five or six days a week and must attend every game.  For speech, practices can be scheduled individually with Mrs. Witham or Mr. Hicks at a time that works within your schedule, including during the school day.  For debate, practices are only held a few times a week, and it is not required that you attend every practice.  Tournament participation for both speech and debate is determined by you.  If you can attend a competition, then you sign up for that particular tournament in room 271 a couple of weeks ahead of time.  If you can’t make it to a particular tournament, then don’t sign up for it.  It’s that simple!  Speech and debate seasons run from October to March, so there are plenty of opportunities to compete and earn NFL points even if you are involved in other activities.

When are tournaments held?
Tournaments are mostly held on Saturdays and last most of the day.  There are a couple of larger tournaments which begin on Friday evening and continue through Saturday.  For current dates of competition, see “Tournament Schedule” or check out the Speech and Debate Teams Calendar.

What would I be doing if I was on the speech team?
There are many different events in speech competition.  Most are individual events, meaning that you compete as an individual contestant.  There are a couple of events in which you compete as a team with a partner.  Speech events fall into one of two categories: public address and oral interpretation.  Public address means that you are displaying public speaking skills.  Oral interpretation is the performance of literature.  These events are essentially competitive performance.

What would I be doing if I was on the debate team?
There are different events in debate competition.  Some are individual events, meaning that you compete as an individual contestant.  There are also some events in which you compete as a team with a partner.  In all events, each side takes turns speaking for a designated period of time with question and answer periods (cross examination).

How do I join the speech or debate team?
Participating in speech and/or debate is easy and there are many ways to get started.  Attend a callout meeting.  Show up for a practice.  Come and talk to one of the coaches (see “Coaching Staff”).  Sign up and attend a tournament.  It’s never too late in the season to get started.  Once you’ve tried it, you decide how often you will compete.  So what are you waiting for?!  Get started on your future success today!