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Blue Springs, MO - The trophy case at Blue Springs High School got a lot more crowded this summer. The Wildcats rocked at the National Forensic League speech and debate tournament. Four of them came home with top 10 finishes in the huge national tournament -- the best showing by any one area high school in quite some time. The fab four of Blue Springs High speech and debate are the FOX 4 Young Achievers of the Week

During the week of June 15, 2009, an estimated 3,500 high school students from across the U.S. debated the politics, challenges, advantages, and science of federal incentives for alternative energy at the National Forensic League (NFL) National Speech and Debate Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. Students who participated in the national tournament had to win district tournaments in their respective states in order to advance to the national competition. This year’s national topic was, “Resolved: That the United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States.”

This was the third time in four years that Central High had a debate team finish among the top four at the NFL national tournament. In 2006, sophomores Lindsey Zhang and Dan Schultz placed third in the nation in public forum debate. In 2007, juniors Evan Dorshorst and Nick Ramsey placed fourth in policy debate.

Lincoln Journal

Alex Jacobs dreams of making it big in the NFL — the National Forensic League.

The 17-year-old high school student from Lincoln was one of four members of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School speech and debate team to compete in the NFL National Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. in June. Although Jacobs and his teammates did not make it to the final rounds, they advanced further than any team of L-S juniors before them.

The team also competed in the National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals in Albany, N.Y. in May.

Jacobs, who competes in public forum debate with partner Jon Weinstein, recently spoke with the Journal to reflect upon his experiences as a junior and look ahead to his senior year.

Q: How did you get involved in debate?

A: I did one local debate last year in a different event called group discussion, which is kind of the event we use to bring people in. It’s an easy event — you sit in a circle, you’re given three topics and you discuss each of them. You don’t really have to know formal debate. I did that once last year.

And then this year, one of my friends kind of sensed that I might be good at debate. He took me to the Yale tournament. That was my first experience. It was great — if I had been another topic, I probably wouldn’t have been as enthusiastic. But it was the draft, which I found really interesting. I was so interested in that topic and I argued so passionately, that kind of hooked me. From that point forward, I wanted to do every possible debate event. This year has been a lot of fun.

Q: What do you like about debating?

A: I’m often verbose. I use a lot of rhetoric in my writing. I kind of write more like I would speak in public. That has hurt me in my writing but that has helped me a lot in terms of debate.

I’ve always loved arguing. I argue with my parents a lot. I argue with my teachers and my friends. This was a venue where I could really just involve it and be successful, put it toward a constructive purpose.

Q: Is there any animosity between the teams you compete against?

A: I love debating and I’m a friendly guy. These people are nice, intelligent people who you share interests with or you wouldn’t be in the same venue. But by the end of the round, when you’ve spent 40 minutes putting down the other person’s points, you berating theirs and they berating yours, it’s really hard for there not to be animosity. It’s like a heated argument. No matter how much nuance you put into it, it’s hard to be friends. And I try because I like people, but it doesn’t always work out that way.

Q: What makes a good debater? How important is preparation versus performance?

A: I don’t do a lot of preparation. I should, but I don’t mostly because I’ve been successful without doing it. But a good debater has an effective balance of both preparation beforehand and the ability to react and sound intelligent immediately. You cannot win with one or the other. You need balance.

Q: What is the hardest part of debate?

A: For me, academics are usually reactionary. I pretty much do stuff at the latest possible time. I’ve had to change my attitude towards that with debate by doing a little bit of prep beforehand. Working to overcome my desire to put things off is something that’s been necessary and will continue to be necessary.

Q: What is the best part?

A: Winning! I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t win. I love arguing and I love being in there, but if I didn’t win, it wouldn’t do it for me. Being successful is really what motivates me.

Q: How was your experience competing at the national tournaments?

A: Both tournaments were great.

The one in Albany that we went to — we didn’t do great, but we learned a lot from the experience. Our contentions were econ heavy and it was a health care topic — everything does relate to economics but we kind of need to work on the human element more in our cases. We need more diverse, more well prepared, well-rounded cases.

We learned a ton from Birmingham as well. Both teams were close to breaking past the preliminary rounds.

We will be back there. There’s a lot of subjectivity in the judging, however, I can definitely say that, with what we’ve learned, we have the potential to be successful at the national level.

Q: Do you plan to continue with debate after high school?

A: For me, I’m going to do ROTC in college and I think I’m going to be an Army officer — that’s what I want to do with my life.

Everything necessary to be successful in debate applies in some way. Every aspect of debate I know I’ll use at some point, whether it’s research, preparation, or just the ability to diplomatically yet effectively respond to a point of view.

Mountainview Voice

Four local high school students and a coach returned this month from a national speech and debate competition with medals, recognition and honors for their performances.

Each year since 1931, the National Forensic League has been inviting top high school debaters together for an international competition in 13 speech and debate events, according to Mountain View-Los Altos High School District debate coach Sharon Moerner. This year the event was held in Birmingham, Ala. from June 14 to 19, and four students from local high schools competed in the competition.

Two students from the Mountain-View-Los Altos High School District speech and debate team placed in the national event. Rylan Schaeffer, a sophomore, was a semifinalist in "congress," a category where students debate bills and resolutions. Natalee Pei, who just graduated, placed in the top 40 of 238 debaters in the Lincoln-Douglas competition, a one-on-one debate where students are given the topic only 30 minutes beforehand.

Saint Francis High School had two students compete in the policy debate competition. Sejal Parekh, a San Jose resident who just graduated from the school, and Chander Ramesh, a rising senior from Sunnyvale, placed fourth. They competed against 1,195 teams from 50 states, Guam, the Virgin Islands and Saipan and made it to the semifinal round, according to Saint Francis spokesperson Holly Elkins.

The National Forensic League also recognized Karen Keefer, an assistant coach for the MVLA team, as a "diamond key coach" due to her students' high performances over the years. Coaches receive one-tenth of their students' points, and Keefer's debaters have received over 15,000 points since she started coaching in 1995.

"Without her there would be no speech and debate team," parent Terese Tricamo said of Keefer in an e-mail. "Each year, Mrs. Keefer's leadership and deep knowledge of the activity holds the team together and provides continuity."

Statesman Journal

Diana Cater, a recent Silverton High School graduate and former member of the Silverton High School Speech and Debate Team, was a finalist in expository speaking at the 2009 National Forensic League Tournament, held in Birmingham, Ala. June 14-19

Expository speaking is one of 16 events featured at the national tournament, which draws about 3,500 students from all 50 states.

This type of speech aims to inform and usually lasts about five minutes.

Cater placed in the top six in this category.

Liberty Tribune

The list of honors for Liberty High School continues to grow.

The latest team to be recognized for outstanding performance is the speech and debate squad of 13 students, which recently won the School of Excellence award at the national tournament in Alabama.

Coach Sean Nicewaner said he knew before the awards banquet began what was going to happen.

“I kept it a secret from the kids, I wanted it to be a surprise for them,” he said. “They were very, very excited.”

Of the 800 schools represented from 40 states competing in the tournament, only 26 received the award.

“We are very proud of our students. They represented Liberty Public Schools and the community well,” Superintendent Mike Brewer said. “They are an exceptional group.”

Nicewaner said the group’s experience was one of the keys to their success, noting a number of the students had competed at the nationals before.

“This is also a group that works hard to prepare,” he said.

That preparation included meeting at the high school for two weeks after school had let out to get ready for the nationals.

In individual performances students also fared well.

Emma Cadd captured third in storytelling, Katelin Whittaker finished eighth in Lincoln Douglas Debate and Kriste Wright reached the finals in Student Congress, according to Nicewaner who is in his fifth year as coach at the school.

Max Mikitish, Foreign Extemp, Emma Cadd and Elizabeth Stander, Duo Interp, and Eric Staves and Alexis Morris, Duo Interp, all placed in the top 30.

Susan Taylor placed in the top 60 in U.S. Interp.

Mikitish was also recognized for earning enough points over his four-year speech and debate career to finish second in the nation in points this year.

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