Speech and Debate held their informational meeting for this year on September 15. The meeting was for any students that were interested. The team meets everyday and you can join the team at any time. They go to tournaments roughly twice a month but you don’t have to go to every single tournament and meeting unless you’re in the advanced classes. Their first tournaments were on October 14 and 15. There will still be other tournaments, so even if you missed this one you can try and join in time for the next one.

There are a lot of different kinds of events you can do. Mya Doty, a junior in Speech and Debate, is doing Program of Oral Interpretation, or POI for short, and Anna “Ophelia” Catron, a junior who is also in Speech and Debate, is doing duo interpretation and informative speaking. Katie “Kai” Vo, a freshman in Speech and Debate, is planning on doing informative speaking, policy debate, and extemp or radio speaking. There are other events than just those few and if you join the team you can try out different events to find the one that fits you.

Greg Holtschneider, the coach, said, “We probably have about 35 kids that we’re pulling from.”

When asked for advice that can be given to new members Catron said, “Work hard, but don’t stress. Choose things you really like.” 

Doty said, “I know it sounds cheesy, but once you find joy in performing rather than winning, you’ll enjoy this activity more. It’s better to figure that out earlier rather than later!”

Doty’s goal for this year is to win at least one tournament this year and Vo’s goal is to make it to Nationals or at least qualify for it. 

Catron’s goal is to “Make the best of it with my coach since it’s his last year.”