“Debate is a life skill and it will be useful for when I go to college,” said sophomore Finley Strauss, who placed first in her chamber at the Palm Beach Catholic Forensic League Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 11.
The Speech and Debate team competed in their fifth tournament at West Boca High School, alongside twenty three schools from across South Florida, ranging from Miami to Martin County.
The team competed in the Student Congress event, the largest at the tournament. For this event, each school submits a bill two weeks prior, allowing students to prepare arguments both in favor of and against the proposed legislation. During the event, participants are divided into chambers with approximately twenty students each. Within their chambers, students discuss two to three bills in the two hour morning session and another two to three bills in the afternoon. Debaters present speeches, pose questions, and ultimately vote on each bill.
“Judging is based on your speech. Students are rated on a scale from 1 to 6, but rankings are what really matter. At the end of each session, judges rank the participants in each chamber from best to worst, and the top five or six students are recognized,” said Dr. John Peruggia, the team’s coach.
For Strauss, winning her chamber was the result of weeks of hard work and strategic planning. “I prepared all week, writing seven speeches and crafting questions to poke holes in the opposition’s arguments. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it,” Strauss expressed.
During the competition, Strauss made a bold move that ultimately worked in her favor. “Through strategic planning, I was able to be the last negative speaker. I decided I’d rather give my speech and be cut off than not give it at all. It ended up being a good strategy because I placed first,” Strauss said.
Despite the team’s small size, with just six participants at the tournament, all earned high ratings for their speeches. Dr. Peruggia noted that the team’s roster is both a challenge and a strength. “I think that the team did well. It’s hard because at most other schools debate is a class, so we are competing against people who are doing it for a grade and so they might take it differently. But then again, our students are passionate about the people they are going against because they are choosing to debate,’’ Dr. Peruggia explained.
For each debate tournament that students participate in, they can earn points that will help them advance to higher level competitions. For instance, accumulating 25 points is required to qualify for season-ending national tournaments. However, in addition to tournaments, students can earn points toward qualifications through activities like drama club or Yale Model United Nations. “I have recorded points for students in the drama club, YMUN or HMC. They just have to pay the fee to join the NSDA [National Speech and Debate Association], and they would get those points for real and thus be considered Honor Society members of the NSDA and be eligible to participate in the national qualifier,” Dr. Peruggia said.
Looking ahead, Speech and Debate team president Dev Maharaj expressed the importance of sustainability and recruitment. “I’m starting to notice this team is relying heavily on the participation of juniors, and in the long run this could lead to a fadeaway of the team. Evan Sluiters, Finley Strauss and I have been working with Mr. DeVries and Ms. Devine in the Middle School to establish a Middle School debate club, creating prospective debaters in the future. We work directly with the teachers to supply them with lesson plans for the meetings, and we will be presenting to them soon,” Maharaj said.
In addition to increasing their numbers, the team hopes to perform well in their upcoming tournaments and rank high at the regional competition to secure as many spots at Nationals at the end of the year.
The team’s next tournament takes place on Feb. 22 at Park Vista High School. Anyone interested in attending should come to a team meeting during A and D community blocks.
