By: Kennedi Canova

This school year, Fremont’s Debate team has earned 6 medals so far, the most awards since the reestablishing of the team in 2022. However, they experienced some challenges in the beginning with only 2 members remaining from the 2024 team, this meant training an entirely new team and choosing what events each member should participate in.

There are different “events” each member can participate in, Fremont’s team is involved in Extemporaneous, Congress, Oratory, Impromptu, and Informative. 

Congressional, which seems to be the most popular event here at Fremont, has 3 students participating. In this event, 12-18 students create a mock congress, functioning much like our actual US congress. They create legislation, amendments, resolutions, and select a presiding officer. They are judged based on how easily they can get things passed. 

Despite the challenges they faced at the beginning of the season, they had 5 students qualify for state this year. One student making top 5 in their event. Mr. Beyler explains that each student has drastically improved over the course of the season. Body language, eye contact, word choice, confidence while speaking, and getting comfortable in their own events has driven this team to a fulfilling year. 

Debate can be demanding and definitely involves a willingness to learn, but has proven to be worth it, providing students with several helpful opportunities. Sarya Konecny, senior and president of Fremont Debate, says “It’s not just about arguing, it’s about learning how to formulate an argument properly, prepare organized and thought-out speeches, and discovering how to listen to your opponent to actually learn about the other side. It also taught me how to present myself and have confidence while speaking.” 

Debate is an 8th period class that offers 12th grade English credit. Allie Gaz, a junior on the team, says, “We have a lot of fun, but in class we work on preparing speeches, practice writing speeches, and doing research or reciting speeches. We are usually planning for upcoming tournaments.” 

Debate is always looking for new students to participate. Mr. Beyler says, “Joining debate is a guarantee that students will win more arguments with their parents. However, the real reason students should join is because it helps with public speaking, critical thinking, and helps in real-life situations, like job interviews!”