One conversation that isn’t up for debate is that the Palisade Speech and Debate team has been on a roll this season. From practices beginning in early September, the team has been working to the top. At this point in the year, novice members are learning the ropes and the varsity members are preparing for some more intense competition. Palisade’s debaters, public addressers, and interpreters are coached by Palisade math teacher Mrs. Seremak, social studies teacher Ms. Burbach, and Jasmine Fitzgibbons.
“Our team is placing consistently.. we have almost all our our team members placing every single time… we’re all just having a lot of fun.” remarked junior Evelyn Forte when reflecting upon the previous tournaments.
The team’s first tournament proceeding winter break took place at Delta High School on January 10th. Many Bulldogs took top three in the competition. Sophomore Alivia Nicodemus received first place in Impromptu Speaking, the World Schools Debate team composed of junior Lauren Spriggs, junior Gabrielle Spriggs, senior Hailey Shackelford, and junior Max Bourkovski received second place, junior Marilee Beauregard received second place in Program Oral Interpretation, and junior Solomon Helms earned second place in Big Questions debate. Additionally, senior Hailey Shackelford, junior Evelyn Forte, and junior Piper Wesolowski each earned third place in their respective Houses in Congressional Debate.
The team ended their regular season after their most recent tournament at Summit High School on Saturday, January 17th. Beauregard received first place in Dramatic and Humorous Interpretation, freshman Hank Walton received third place in the Novice House for Congressional Debate, and junior Logan Waggoner received third place in Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking.
However, that wasn’t the final debate for the Bulldogs. Select members on the team will be travelling to Casper, Wyoming on Friday, January 30th, to scope out some competition from the northern areas. Team members who have placed in the top three at one of the regular season tournaments will also travel to Pueblo in late February for the 4A State Championships. Additionally, the National Qualifying tournament will take place on February 14th for Congressional Debate and March 6-7th for Main Events at Colorado Mesa University. This is a great opportunity for spectators to come and see what our speech and debate team has been working so hard for this year!
The hard work and dedication that the Palisade speech and debate team hasn’t gone unnoticed! Go Bulldogs, and be sure to support our other winter sports teams this year.
