For the first time in 21 years, two PHS debaters went to state championships. On the weekend of April 12 to 14, the California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) held its 65th state competition at Clovis North High School.

While the Titans did not win any awards at the competition, sophomores Hannah Jones and Ellie Chin count the experience of qualifying for and competing at state as a win. Jones and Chin participated in the Public Debate Forum category, in which a duo goes against another duo. They had four rounds of debate, in which they won one out of eight judges’ ballots.

This year the topic was, “Should the United Nations have lifetime appointments on their security council?” While not a victory, Chin regards the competition as a success, “Ultimately it was a fun learning experience, and I improved a lot,” Chin said.

The research and preparation that went into their debate was extensive. Chin and Jones worked for weeks. Jones was surprised by the stark difference between students in and out of the debate, “It was great to have real competition experience, and to meet with other speech and debate kids. Everyone was just so pleasant outside of the debate,” Jones said.

While ferocious with their words during the debate, opposing student teams were laughing with each other and having fun just seconds after the end of the debate. Speech and Debate Coach Kathryn McMillan is proud of the team for qualifying for state. “When you see what other great teams do in their

approach, you can learn new strategies, and new philosophies. Even if it didn’t help out the team in the moment, now they can learn from that and implement that in the future,” McMillan said.

The state championship was overall a great learning experience for the Titans. They hope to be at state next year.