The topic: Should adolescents have control over their own medical decisions? The location: A small classroom on the second floor of Ronan’s middle school. The debaters: Two high school boys, both in suits and ties that didn’t quite fit right, hands a little shaky. One had to convince the judge that adolescents should have the right, the other that they shouldn’t. Welcome to the Lincoln Douglas debate section of a high school speech and debate competition.

There are 16 events in a high school meet, ranging from humor to debate. On Saturday, Ronan held their home speech and drama meet, a competition that had ten teams competing.

The Ronan team has 40 kids out this year, twice as many as they did last year. That might have something to do with coaches Amy Miller and Stephanie Swigart.

Amy Miller, the head coach and a high school English teacher, participated in speech and debate in her high school days. She gives the credit for the skyrocket in team members to her assistant coach, Stephanie Swigart. Swigart, a Washington native and a middle school teacher, also competed in high school and took it a level higher as a member of the University of Montana speech and debate team. Miller said she’s been recruiting kids from middle school, which explains the large amount of freshmen and sophomore kids on this year’s team.

With only two coaches trying to teach 40 kids, Miller said the more experienced competitors have very helpful. “The veteran members of the team have stepped up as mentors for the younger kids,” she said.

When a kid decides to go out for speech and debate, the first thing they need to do is decide what they like to do. Do they like to argue? Maybe a Lincoln Douglas debate would be good. Do they like to make people laugh? There are humorous events.

There are many types of events, each of which key on different strengths such as memorization, research skills, delivery, and the ability to prepare an entire speech about a specific subject in just a few minutes.

Practice takes on a different meaning for the Ronan speech and debate team. There is no exercising involved. Unless you count exercising your mind. They meet in a computer lab, where each kid is doing something different, whether that means they could be keeping tabs on current events, learning about politics, or rewriting their speeches.

Miller said that the team doesn’t get quite as much attention as other school activities. “It’s something that gets overlooked a lot, because a lot of what we do happens quietly after school and we travel on the weekends. People rarely get to see what we actually do,” she said.

Just because it doesn’t get as much attention doesn’t mean it’s less important. “It’s not a simple thing to do. It’s pretty hard. I don’t think people realize the power of what these kids are doing and the implications that it will have for them in the long term. There are some really good career readiness skills being built here.”

Coach Swigart backed that statement up. She added that the things the kids learn can help them later on in life, including helping them get into college. “Colleges are interested in students who have that on their transcripts.” She also mentioned that the commitment to the team and themselves is a good trait to have. “They don’t just write their speech and say ‘Okay, I did my paper now I’m done’. It’s having a commitment to their craft.”

Both Miller and Swigart said they’ve seen and heard stories about the kids’ growth through speech and debate. Swigart said, “Confidence is a huge thing. It’s my favorite thing to see develop through speech and debate. These kids are now able to advocate for themselves and get their opinions out there.”

Below are results from the meet they hosted this past Saturday.

Ronan Speech and Debate Meet

Individual Results:

Dramatic Interpretation:

1. Daniel Koehler, Ronan

2. Hunter Cripe, Whitefish

3. Estevon Torres, Columbia Falls

Policy Debate:

1. Annabel Conger & Colin Norick, Columbia Falls

2. Annabelle Smith & Katelyn Toland, Polson

3. Jenaya Burns & Julia Matkovich, Ronan

7. Alexandra Berna & Aurrora Watkins, Ronan

Original Oratory:

1. Rebecca Vance, Flathead (Kalispell)

2. Hunter Cripe, Whitefish

3. Lauren Stratton, Glacier (Kalispell)

Public Forum Debate:

1. Cassidy Norick & Kelsey Wright, Columbia Falls

2. Ammann Koch-Ford & Bailey McCann, Whitefish

3. Sarah Posey & Katie Helton, Columbia Falls

Spontaneous Interpretation:

1. Jessie Lewis, Ronan

2. Ryan Dresen, Ronan

4. Roman Hall, Ronan

5. Elijah Carey, Ronan

7. Kaley Brown, Ronan

Expository Speaking:

1. Emily Getts, Columbia Falls

2. Teigan Tremper, Whitefish

3. Sam Gilk, Columbia Falls

Lincoln Douglas Debate:

1. Gabby Merrell, Columbia Falls

2. Kenyon Cairns, Polson

3. Galen Jamison, Whitefish

Memorized Public Address:

1. Joey Chester, Columbia Falls

2. Zach Ade, Whitefish

3. Austin Reese, Whitefish

Extemporaneous Speaking:

1. Abbie Belcher, Whitefish

2. Zach Ade, Whitefish

4. Kail Cheff, Ronan

Humorous Interpretation:

1. Ryan Dresen, Ronan

4. Roman Hall, Ronan

7. Jordan Croft, Polson

Impromptu Speaking:

1. Hayden Phillips, Glacier (Kalispell)

2. Abbie Belcher, Whitefish

8. Jessie Lewis, Ronan

Dramatic Duo:

1. Kaia Roberge & Natalie Bova, Frenchtown

Pantomime:

1. Wes Whisennhand, Frenchtown

Humorous Solo:

1. Autumn Fajotina, Libby

Dramatic Solo:

1. Caleb Way, Bigfork

2. Declan Faulkner, Libby

Humorous Duo:

1. Damon Maitland & K.C. Isaman, Bigfork

2. Alivia Zieler & Mikalyn Zieler, Libby

3. Olivia Potter & Emily Everett, Frenchtown

Team Results:

Speech Sweepstakes:

1. Columbia Falls - 177 (1st place Class A)

2. Whitefish - 148 (2nd Class A)

3. Ronan - 107 (1st place Class B)

4. Polson - 35 (3rd place Class A)

5. Kalispell Glacier - 33 (1st place Class AA)

6. Kalispell Flathead - 33 (2nd AA)

7. Bigfork - 15 (2nd place Class B)

8. Sheridan - 14 (1st place Class C)

9. Libby - 7 (3rd place Class B)

Drama Sweepstakes:

1. Frenchtown - 50 (1st Class A)

2. Libby - 45 (1st place Class B)

3. Bigfork - 30 (2nd place Class B)

4. Sheridan - 9 (1st place Class C