BY JENN SAMSEL
Public speaking and debating can be challenging and intimidating for many students. However, two schools participated in the Florida Civic Debate Initiative (FCDI) for both the State and Northeast Regional Qualifiers and won several awards. The schools involved were Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School and Bradford Middle School.
The State Championship took place on Saturday, April 18-19, at New College of Florida.
Regionals were held on Saturday, March 14, at St. John’s Community College, with 150 attendees and 25-30 teams from St. Johns, Clay, Putnam, Duval, Nassau, and Flagler counties.
The Florida Civic Debate Initiative (FCDI) and the Florida Debate Initiative are two organizations that work side by side to build speech and debate teams throughout Florida, gearing the students to stay up to date on current events and research various topics, all while preparing, learning, adapting, and practicing.
“We’re at one of our qualifiers for our district for kids who qualify to go to the state championship. I’m very proud of where we come from and what we’ve done as our team has grown. Being an ambassador has been a wonderful gift to represent speech and debate,” said Shannon Southam, FCDI Ambassador for the northeast region of Florida, Keystone Heights-Junior-Senior High School
“Just seeing that they can do it. That’s the hard part, because public speaking’s one of the number one fears that people have, and the cool part is about speech and debate is seeing those kids being able to overcome that fear and be able to present their ideas, present who they are,” she continued.
Benjamin Mann, a judge in speech and debate and a graduate of Keystone Heights Junior-Senior High School, was selected as the first alternate for a spot in the national competition for dramatic presentation during his high school years. He started participating as a freshman at KHHS and currently attends both Santa Fe College and the University of Florida.
“My best one that I also used to do is called extemporaneous debates, except the students don’t get to decide what side they will be on. The system will decide whether they are in support of passing, whether it is a bill, or et cetera, or as well as negation, and then the students are given around 30 minutes to an hour for research,” he said.
“My favorite part about speech and debate was definitely getting to do a dramatic presentation, which is more laid back and more focused on the entertaining aspects, and I hope that students are able to work more effectively. No matter what happens, always make sure you keep going. Even if you’re nervous or if you get something, make something up that can help contribute but keep you calm,” he continued.
Several students from KHHS have qualified to compete at Nationals. Jillian Parales will be participating in the Oral Interpretation of Literature competition for the Catholic Forensic League, taking place in Washington, D.C., from May 22-25. Additionally, Cali Chamberlain, Rebekah Lugo, Sophia Yaffe, and Jillian Parales will compete in Extemporaneous Speaking, having all qualified for Nationals with the National Speech and Debate Association. The event will be held in Richmond, Virginia, in mid-June.
State Winner:
MS Declamation
4th place, Keystone Heights JR/SR High School, Rebekah Lugo
Regional Winners:
Middle/Novice – Declamation Speaking
2nd place, Keystone Heights JR/SR High School, Rebekah Lugo
MS – Impromptu Speaking
1st place, Keystone Heights JR/SR High School, Sophia Yaffe
Novice – Impromptu Speaking
2nd place, Keystone Heights JR/SR High School, Cali Chamberlain
We the People: A Citizen Showdown
1st place, Bradford Middle School, Brentley Nazworth
