THE Kearns High Speech and Debate team is one to watch as the 6 month tournament season reaches its halfway point. As Novices become JV, they reflect back on their extremely successful run in debate and head captains reminisce on their past years as the last one comes to a close. For the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the team has flourished and grown to be one that other schools must learn to watch out for.
ONE very successful Novice, Isabella Soto (9), competes in many events such as Programmed Oral Interpretation (POI), Oratory, and Congress, all of which she has placed in. She has found herself placing for every single tournament she has competed in. Soto believes that the year has gone, “good, because I keep placing, and I love placing.”
VEDA Sanchez (12), Braxton Deeb (12), and Keagan Storm (12) are the three head captains of the team, and they have triumphed in their respective events. Sanchez captains POI, Extemp, Policy and has placed in each event. Just last year she got 1st place for National Extemp at the State Championship. She also went to the NSDA Nationals Championship for Policy.
DEEB captains Lincoln Douglas (LD), Extemp, and Spar, noting that he has placed the most in Extemp where he most typically focuses on national topics. Storm captains many speech events and places most typically in Interps as that is the main event he runs.
THESE people aren’t the only students placing. Just this year, team members have placed around 47 times within 4 tournaments, taking sweepstakes in two of the biggest ones of the year. The team has been extremely prosperous and it doesn’t just stop with winning trophies, but winning connections.
BRYNLEE Duran (9), a Novice, has found this connection with her team, and grown personally: “I feel like I’m learning to get out of my bubble a little bit more. Not being so socially anxious and having more people to actually socialize with.”
OTHER notable Novices express their love for the team. Karla Ayala (9) says, “I think it’s been good […] I’ve met wonderful people and I’ve had lots of fun doing what I think is very important to me.” This is a very common thing to hear from members of the group. The club has fostered a strong bond where everyone can know that they are taken care of.
THIS team is especially impressive knowing where it was a couple years ago. The coach of the team, Amanda Hurd, has led the Debate club for several years and has seen a spike in accomplishment and valor since the pandemic. “Two years ago, we were down to four people returning, and I was worried that debate might die,” Hurd expresses. “But the past two years we have had amazing luck getting fantastic students that have been just so dedicated and talented.”
ONE benefit of Speech and Debate is the skills and experiences one can gain from it. Deeb shares, “I feel like it has made me a much better, stronger, and more hardworking person. I feel like it has only done good things for me.” Soto claims, “I’m becoming a better public speaker because I actually have to speak in front of a lot of people I don’t know, and I’ve never met.”
MANY sentimental Seniors have to say goodbye to this club at the end of the year but are grateful of what they experienced. Sanchez has now grown into a much more confident person just from one small team. She states, “I’d say I changed a lot since my sophomore year, I became like a more excited person.” Sanchez has found that if she can put her mind to something she can succeed.
DEBATE is a sport of the mind. It’s difficult, it’s stressful, but it’s also kind and strengthening. Everyone in the group has a place and is welcomed. Everyone in the group is talented and smart. The team has been widely ignored, but should instead be brought into the limelight to get the recognition it has fought for and deserves.
