By: Kaitlyn Hudson, Christenn Loney, Christian Diaz
Debate is not just an elective chosen for an easy “A”, it’s an academic experience that can teach students many life skills and lessons. Being in the debate program for four years is a colossal accomplishment that various seniors can now add to their college applications and resumes. As the seniors have gone through debate, they have observed some things that could be improved and others that make the program as accomplished and strong as it is.
Sonia Davila (grade 12) states, “I want to see the team grow with new members, with more of them getting trophies and awards. Ultimately, I hope for the strengthening of team bonds.” Davila believes that if debate members worked collaboratively to critique one another’s speeches and help each other understand topics, members would be more successful and more prepared for their rounds at competitions.
At the end-of-year debate awards ceremony, seniors got their final memories with Ms. Petit and other team members. They received Certificates of Recognition and senior chords. As they obtained these items, each senior gave a speech about their experience in the program.
Vincent Shipe (11), past speech captain, hopes future speakers and debaters have the desire to improve the program and put more effort into their work. He claims we need to “step it up”. Parth Agarwal (9) who will be continuing in the debate program, ran for potential debate captain on the platform of making “the debate program great again”. He wants to do exercises that will help students get stronger in their events, obtain necessary skills, and find their specialty. He wants to “build a name for PBHS debate”. This means that during tournaments, opponents from other schools will know how good we are and will respect how strong our debate program is.
During the year we have already started to see many positive shifts already within the Debate program. As novices, we have learned more information about how to participate in our events and we have learned more about the logistical side of tournaments than previous years have. Varsity debaters have also set up various opportunities, such as mock competitions, for us to practice speech and debate rounds, which is what we use as a model for our actual tournaments. This can be shown by outcomes of our AST (After School Tournament) results. Aashi Chhabra, a novice in our debate program and newly elected Fundraising Coordinator, has won over seven medals in her first year of the program. Part Argarwal, also part of the Novice squad of our debate team, has won three. Because of the resources being made available by Ms. Petit and the Varsity, it is known that the PBHS Debate holds their ground against the competition when we participate in tournaments. The program can only improve from here, especially with future generations being motivated to put more effort into the program.