Encouraging and assisting students with public speaking, the Marshfield High School Speech and Debate team has been competing for 9 years. The team has many options including public address events, debate events and several acting events, earning its nickname the “academic track and field.”

Instructor Chasity Hance, who has been teaching for 3 years at Marshfield and 13 overall, loves being able to work with her students and help them become more confident in their work. She believes that being able to speak in front of a crowd is an ability that young students need in order to prepare themselves for the future, so being able to help set them up for success is one of her favorite parts of the job. However, she also just loves the simple aspects such as seeing the students get along with each other and work towards a common goal.

“There are lifelong skills that you’re going to learn in speech and debate that will help you throughout life and you might as well have fun when you’re learning how to do it and bring home some shiny trophies,” Hance said. 

Even with just a few months into the school year, the team has already had several successful tournaments. A few highlights from this season are the team’s first year students, also called novices, took overall fifth place out of 23 schools; freshmen Lilliana French and Gunner Dodson have trophied in all of their events; freshman Layla Schanze has made it to the top 12 of her speaking event in 2 tournaments; and freshman Arabella Parrott has advanced at each of her tournaments. Hance also shares her excitement about one of the team’s novices’ debating with the team president Owen Matthews, bringing up his skill set into the “big leagues.”

Practices are open to anyone interested in the team and are after school until 6 on Tuesdays and Thursdays in room 500. Designed to be adaptable for student’s schedules, the practices are not mandatory the whole time created in a come and go flexibility.