If you have ever walked past room 74 during fourth period, you have probably seen the SDA debate team lined up against the wall working on speaking drills or cases for upcoming debate tournaments. Though these drills seem both exciting and fun, they also serve an important purpose for preparing and improving students, especially for upcoming tournaments.

The team consists of 43 students and four coaches. There are also two main coaches, David Tow and Todd Newkirk, as well as two assistant coaches, Tom Lueker and Ashley Nuckles. During class time everyday, the team is constantly learning new things to help prepare for competitions on the weekends. There are also after school practices to help the team improve.

Because the team has been working hard, Debate has had a successful season in tournaments this year.

“The team has been doing really well this season.  I’m very proud of them,” said Tow.

Priya Dave, a sophomore, said, “I think the season has gone pretty well.  I made a lot of new friends—it’s a good place for people to connect,”

Weekend tournaments are not all mandatory, but a good number of team members spend their weekends traveling and debating against other teams. “Almost all the students participate in at least one tournament a season,” said Tow.

In the different tournaments there are four different events that students can compete in which include parliamentary debate, public forum debate, student congress, and individual events.  There are usually around 20 tournaments per season.

“So far, I have competed five or six times this semester,” said Dave.  “My favorite part about tournaments is bonding with the team.  After the debating part, we sometimes go out to dinner or just play silly games in the hotel rooms.”

Even though the Speech and Debate is a rewarding experience for the team, there is also a lot of work involved, especially for tournaments.  “It’s a really tight schedule.  Sometimes, we don’t really have much time to eat, and we don’t sleep very much either because we go to sleep late and wake up early to compete.  We also come home late on Sunday night and have to do homework if we haven’t started it,” Dave said.

Despite the time commitment, the students and classroom environment make the class very interesting and unique.  “Everyone gets along very well because they spend a lot of time together.  There is an intellectual bond where students talk and figure out problems, which builds appreciation and trust,” said Tow.

For more information about SDA speech and debate, visit their website online at http://www.sdadebate.org/.