Members of the Speech and Debate team are preparing to host a tournament at which students from surrounding districts will come to compete.  

The two-day competition will begin Friday, October 22nd and a variety of events will take place around the school. Friday will begin with congressional debate, but Saturday will become a lot more frenzied with over seven events taking place, sometimes at the same time.  

Anticipation of the event is increasingly high and has even piqued the interest of former graduated debate members. Some are even visiting their college to judge. 

Diane Barragan, a freshman at the University of Texas at El Paso, came to attend.  

“It was a really interesting experience. Being a judge, I got to listen to people from different backgrounds and I could hear the passion in their voices. It was really cool to hear so many different perspectives,” she explained. 

The existing debate team is eager to learn from the experience. Though small in numbers and mostly new to the club, the team performed very well at the first tournament of the season held at Del Valle High School.  

Since the hosting team is not allowed to participate, they are responsible for getting qualified judges, organizing the flow of the tournament, and assisting competitors. 

Sophomore and member of the team, Angela Rivas, spoke about the experience, “I got to know more about how everything works together: how the teams know each other, the coaches know each other and really how it all comes down to getting better and improving. 

Speech and Debate Coach James Thompson adds, “We only have four [people] competing, but there are others who should be joining soon.” 

If you are interested in experiencing Speech and Debate yourself or speaking with the team, contact Thompson for more information.