After prepping for 20 hours, juniors Kaden Gustafson and Kai Powell left their speech and debate competition on Sept. 30, 4-0 undefeated. 

Gustafson and Powell spent two weeks becoming experts in military presence in the Arctic. The team is proud to have competed and won against teams from both public and private schools. All of their practice paid off in the end.

This isn’t Powell and Gustafson’s first time competing, but for many of their peers at the tournament, it was.  Sophomore teams Yuval Cohen and Anthony Kotoyan, and Shab Bagheri and Ethan Gomberg competed for their first time, with both teams scoring 2-2 in their debates. 

“Anyone’s welcome any time,” speech and debate advisor Kathryn McMillan said. Speech and debate isn’t just a 5.5 class, it’s also a club that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays after school.

“Club is just a really fun place to hang out with friends I’ve made,” varsity speech and debate member Gustafson said. At meetings, the club plays games like improv to help improve their debate skills.

According to Powell it is a good club to join if you need to work on your public speaking skills or want to make new friends.

“Join speech and debate,” Powell said. The club is currently gearing up for their next debate which will take place on Nov. 4. See McMillan in D-5 for more information.