On Tuesday, April 23, the Speech and Debate teams of Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS) and La Canada High School (LCHS) came together to put on a public presentation displaying the various types of debate and speech events.
The purpose of the presentation was to educate the public audience exactly what high school debaters and speech participants do. According to CVHS Varsity Debater Zack Zimmerman, “it was really neat to get the public exposed to the different types of events we do.”
Many townspeople came to the demonstration and left enlightened.
The myriad of Speech and Debate events not only show the various abilities of the students, but also highlight the varying difficulties of each event. Because it is challenging and requires critical thinking, High School Forensics is a key extracurricular activity that is impressive to many colleges.
CVHS debate teacher Amber Mcleod said, “Debate has been favored as one of the extracurriculars that colleges enjoy seeing on a student’s application because of its uniqueness and relativity to numerous majors such as political science or pre-law.”
Yet there are other reasons to be participate in High School Forensics. Though Speech and Debate may be very helpful for students when applying to colleges, CVHS Debater Ben Tanner said, “I also have a lot of fun being part of this team.”
The team has been through much, as it has competed in various debate and speech tournaments around Southern California. According to Tanner, the team is like a “second family” because its members have spent so much time together.
By inspiring the students to pursue their passions, debate teaches students valuable lessons about life and how to succeed. Speech and Debate provide many benefits for students and their futures.
