Speech and debate going strong

Giving his side of the debate, junior Hunter Cowdrey talks with his notes in his hand while participating in a debate with Raeef Rahman against another pair. The debate team held their first meet against Shanley students on November 12th.

Akriti Saxena, Business Manager
March 9, 2017

West Fargo High School’s speech and debate teams bring in multiple awards from every competition. Recently, dedication from the students and coaches has been recognized, as they have earned membership from the National Speech and Debate Association to the Association’s 100 Club .

All students are part of this organization as long as they are on a speech or debate team. From freshman to senior year, students earn points through competitions and eventually gain degrees, which are given to students after an achievement in an event. Collectively, the students earned 100 different degrees during the 2015-16 school year.

Debate coach Nick Strom has seen the dedication that students have put into their research.

“Think of it like an Honor Society for your debate team,” Strom said. “It puts us in the top 23 percent of the nation, which is pretty cool.”

Speech coach Dakota Breen attributed the award to the increase in participants and the talent of her students last year. Four years ago, the speech team only had 12 to 14 members on the team and last year 40 members were able to go to speech events and competitions.

“Last year, I had a handful of students in their first year in Speech, and they went all the way from starting at zero points to getting around 382 points, which is a crazy amount to do in your first year,” Breen said. “Through their achievement and through their dedication of coming to all of their tournaments and competing in multiple events, they’ve been able to earn a lot of degrees.”

Future plans for the speech team include going to state and representing the school. Co-captain junior Joseph Mollet expects the team to enter the 200’s club in the next few years.

“We will be trying our hardest to show that we truly deserve this outstanding honor. This award only makes us all want to work harder,” Mollet said. “We are on a role and there is no chance of us slowing down now.”