Throughout the first three weeks of March, the Powell Speech and Debate team competed at their Districts and State competitions, with eight people medaling at State, three people breaking to finals at State, and five people qualifying for Nationals. 

Despite having to replace a coach, replace captains, and experiencing budget cuts, the team exceeded all expectations and was able to win their first State Sweepstakes award since 2015.  Senior and Debate Captain Paul Cox competed in Public Forum Debate, Senate, and Original Oratory.

“I was very proud of how our team did, as well as winning a debate sweepstakes award,” Cox said. “I looked in the trophy case, [and] I couldn’t find any others, so as far as I’m aware, that’s the first time we’ve done that in a very, very long time. So I was very proud of that, and I just thought that it was a good experience.” 

Cox, along with senior Maggie Atkinson, senior Teagan Southwick, junior Kyra Morrow, and sophomore Taylor Peters, qualified for Nationals. 

“It was [a] really stiff contest,” Peters said. “There were… a lot of really good people that did not break to the final round….I was nervous whether I would break or not, so I was overjoyed to discover that I had qualified.”

Southwick competes in Lincoln Douglas debate, and this is the first time she has qualified for Nationals, making it her best Districts tournament. She gives credit for her success to debate camp and new coaches. 

“I think it’s one of probably my favorite tournaments that we’ve ever done,” Southwick said. “I just think we had good team dynamics this year, and it seems like our coaches put a lot of effort into having good tournaments for the seniors.”

State was just as successful for the team. Junior Norah Startin improved a lot, taking judge feedback and working with choir teacher Mrs. Murray. Startin, who only started in February, was one of three people to stage at the State competition.

“I really loved State, and I thought it was super fun,” Startin said. “It was really exciting to get to see the breaks and have my name up there and have everyone coming up to hug me and get really excited for me, and have people coming to watch my final round. There were so many people in my final round …but I still think I competed very well.”

Atkinson, who’s been on the team for four years, also staged at State. Despite numerous setbacks including doing both cheerleading and speech and debate, having limited practice and tournament opportunities, and dealing with biased judging, she was able to take third overall in Lincoln Douglas debate. 

“I feel like my opponent wasn’t the best, and that really frustrated me losing to technicalities,” Atkinson said. “But overall, I’m happy with my placing, and I’m happy with how I ended my senior year.”

This was head coach Shelby Moore’s first year coaching PHS’s Speech and Debate Team, transferring here from Burlington to work in the Special Education department. 

‘Watching [the team] go from being incredibly focused on just their individual events to wanting to reach out to the other people on the team and make sure that they were also successful, and helping the coaches to run things and just become a cohesive unit was really incredible,” Moore said. “…a lot of that had to do with the fact that leadership at the top worked really well together, from Bryce and I really complimenting each other as coaches and being able to pick up where the other one left off, to all of our team captains and upperclassmen that worked hard to make sure that not only were things getting done, but also that we had a good culture on the team, and that people were supportive and making sure that they encouraged each other and reached out to the underclassmen.”

Cox, who placed third in his main event 3A in Public Forum Debate, as well as second overall in Original Oratory and first in 3A, expressed great satisfaction with the season as a whole. 

“As a team captain, you’re acutely aware of how the team is feeling and how the coaches are feeling,” Cox said. “Even though everybody was really tired and at times people were still struggling, I thought that the way that we pulled through and ended up placing at State and winning that award at Districts, really made me proud of all that we went through, even though it was never easy at any time… [we] managed to do something really, really incredible that we haven’t done in a long time, that the Powell team hasn’t done in a long time. I couldn’t be more happy with how the season went and honestly, I wouldn’t change a single thing about it. It was wonderful, and I’m glad that I got to have such a great experience for my last season at PHS.”