The Powell High School speech and debate team has had a terrific year so far. With amazing results at tournaments, they have represented Powell with great pride. They prepare the entire year to make sure they give their absolute best performances for speech and debate. 

Speech and debate helps to build skills in public speaking and also how to make an articulate argument against a competitor. Participation instills many great qualities that kids need throughout life. 

“My favorite part about speech and debate is the amount of work we put into our public speaking skills,” sophomore Reina Hansen said. “Speech and debate is a program that builds your public speaking skills and helps you build confidence in giving speeches and finding your voice. I feel like, compared to sports, speech and debate can help you outside of high school and college because everyone needs to learn to use their voice and speak out without being afraid.” 

The practices for speech and debate look a lot different than other practices. They are individually based. Each team member has to put in their best effort not only for their own benefit but also to contribute to the team. 

“It’s different because you’re all working on your own events,” speech and debate coach Shelby Moore said. “We meet up in the library, we talk about what our schedule is going to be like for the week. Then we break out, and people work with each other or individually. They can sign up for practice times with each of us.”

Speech and debate is a great place to find your passions. Whenever a new opportunity surfaces, PHS students take it and sometimes find the experience to be far greater than what they ever imagined.

“I was actually not sold on speech my freshman year,” senior Natalie Black said. “My best friend forced me into it, but I didn’t really enjoy it until State that year. However, I had some truly great experiences at State and had the opportunity to engage with the seniors at the time, which is what drew me back. Then I started building relationships with teammates and coaches, and became significantly more competitive, which in turn made me enjoy it.” 

The speech and debate season takes up most of the school year. It is an enormous commitment for the kids who are participating in it. The season can last about ten months. This is one of the longest extracurricular activities PHS has. However, the amount of time and effort they put into it is seen through their success. 

“We have a really long season,” Moore said. “We start having our first meetings and practice in early October. Our state tournament is right around spring break in March. We continue to have practices for students who qualify for nationals until June.”

One highlight from the season so far has been the Worland tournament. The high school speech and debate team went with the middle school team

“Having the middle school team with us in Worland was super fun,” Black said. “I loved taking the kids into my rounds and cheering them on as they did well.”

PHS usually competes in about 15 tournaments during their entire season. On January 10th , they competed in Montana, which is very different compared to Wyoming’s.

“This tournament on Saturday went really well,” Hansen said. “Everyone on the team placed in their events and got recognized for their talents. Montana tournaments are really interesting because of the different types of speeches and debates you will hear, and that kept me interested to learn about new things and seeing other people’s talents outside of our state. 

“The students did incredibly well this weekend,” Moore said. “I was really impressed, it’s hard to go to a different state where they have different rules.”

The PHS speech and debate team is by far one of the best activities to expand students’ talents. It is an encouraging and impactful environment. This positive environment only betters each team member’s experience.

“I wanted to join speech and debate because I love public speaking and competing against other people,” Hansen said. “I am a very passionate person, and speech helps me express my passion for certain things and topics. This club has helped me build confidence not only in public speaking, but also with confidence in myself and my talents.”