PHOTO CREDITS: CCHS Debate
BY SARAH SHARPE
On October 30th, 2014, 12 students from Cooper City High School’s Speech and Debate Team packed up and headed to the University of Florida in Gainesville to compete in the Florida Blue Key Speech and Debate Tournament, which lasted until November 2nd. Blue Key is a national tournament that hosts students from schools all over the country who compete in various speech and debate events.
The students from CCHS competed in several different events. Freshmen Alyssa Levy and Nick Tyler, sophomore Kia Del Solar-Patino, junior Juel Johnson, and senior Robby Robinson competed in Congress, an event where students learn to be a mock senator or congressperson by writing legislation and then trying to pass them in a debated session of “Congress”. Sophomore Charlie Blodnieks competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, an individual debate on the moral issues of the day. Juniors Ariana Milian and Logan Silverman competed in Oral Interpretation, an event that is a combination of both prose and poetry in a program based on a common theme. Freshman Shaina Kaye, junior Corinne Giardina, Milian, and Silverman also competed in Original Oratory, an event where students compose and memorize a ten-minute non-fictional speech on any topic or issue and then deliver it, keeping in mind the aspects of quality public speaking. Silverman and Kaye also competed in Duo Interpretation, an event that involves two performers presenting a 10-minute segment of a play. All students performed to the best of their ability and most of the events were a success.
“The competition was extremely tough because many nationally ranked schools were present,” debate coach Wendy Schauben said.
It was a weekend of officer victories, however. Robinson, the debate club’s president, took home a gavel as an outstanding Presiding Officer in Congress. Blodnieks, the Lincoln-Douglas Debate captain, took home a 4th place speaker award in LD, and Johnson, the debate club’s historian, made it to semi-finals in Spontaneous Argumentation Debate, a supplemental event in which students have to frame an argument in one minute and then react quickly to their opponents’ ideas.
“The CCHS debate team exceeded my expectations,” Schauben said. “Not only did they work their hardest to prepare for their events, but they also conducted themselves professionally and represented what is truly great about debate.”
As for the future of the debate club, Schauben hopes for the team to travel outside the state for their next travel tournament. Great things are sure to come from this talented group of students.
