Yelling at walls usually wouldn’t be the norm in a classroom, let alone a student activity, but speech is not your average student activity by any means. For the Bulldog Speech and Debate team, their bark is their bite. These are the kids who have little to no fear of public speaking.  In fact, our speech team has placed first in novice, varsity, and sweepstakes twice in a row.

The speech and debate team, as described by its members, is like a big family.  Director of Forensics, Debate and Theater David Cooper said the team’s hard work has led to their success. “We work as a team; we win as a team,” he said.  Even  those who joined late in the season find the team to be very close.  Sophomore Gregg Stoner said he does speech for “the companionship and the amount of accomplishment you feel, and the overall preparedness speech can give you.”  

Speech kids go to competitions against other schools in our state. Getting to mingle with different schools gives students chances to make new  friends outside of our own high school. These new friends become people you can look forward to seeing and competing against at the next competition.

During each event, speech participants compete in front of a judge who writes their compliments and critiques on a sheet of paper. They go through this process two or three times in front of different judges.

There are many events that you can do in speech. Extemporaneous, nicknamed ‘the real speech sport’ by the team, is one of them. “You are given a political question and must research it, and be prepared to answer within a 30-60 minute time period,” said Stoner.

Junior Andrew Phares is one of the people who participates in this event. Last year, he was an alternate for Nationals. “That was until someone ended up dropping out,” he laughed as he thought back to his time in Dallas, Texas, where nationals took place, “I wasn’t anywhere close to winning, but I did get to see half of the people that would break into the top 60, which is a rare sight itself. I also got to see the guy who would go on to be the national winner.”

With all the work you have to put into speech, it becomes a full-time commitment very quickly. This is where work nights come into play. This is the time to crack down on practicing and fine-tune scripts, especially if you’re in a group event. “Without work nights, we would only be able to do practices at home. Some people don’t have the time outside of a school schedule for that,” said sophomore Mandi Hatch. Work nights are also a time for the team to get to know one another better and become friends with their fellow team mates. “Even if they aren’t in the same events as you, you still bond,” said Stoner.

In the end, speech has helped the students grow skills they never knew they had before. “It made me more confident in the way that I talk and my ability to speak better,” said sophomore Nirvana Mendoza. Hatch added, “Speech has helped me become an overall better speaker.”

North Platte will return to the national scene this month.  Cooper said after two years of planning, the team has the privilege of  hosting the prestigious national-qualifying tournament at NPHS on February 25,26 & 27.