With 26 teams competing within the toughest regions of the state, the Park City High School Speech and Debate team finished in 2nd place at the state competition, with numerous team members earning individual recognition.
Two Juniors earned state champion status: Izzy Morris in Varsity Lincoln Douglas, a debate format modeled after the famous 1958 debate between the Illinois Democratic Senator Stephen Douglas and the Republican challenger Abraham Lincoln - and Noah Canada in Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking, where debaters are presented a choice of three questions on international current events and are then given 30 minutes to research and prepare for a seven-minute speech.
Debate Coach Anna Williams praised the individual recognitions, and added her strongest commendation for the unity of the collective team. Williams’ deliberate team building begins with bolstering individual skills in the first semester of the school year. “But then second semester comes along and I say, okay, you've learned the craft, you've gotten all the skills that you need and now we're focusing on what your contributions are going to be to the team as a whole,” said Williams.
State champion Izzy Morris humbly deferred individual attention saying, “I just wasn't focused on myself. I was focused on getting to the quarter-final so that I could get the points for my team.” The sentiment was echoed by the other State champion Noah Canada, “It’s amazing to see how we could work together as a team this year to accomplish this. Mrs. Williams was able to rally us together like we are a basketball team.”
Coach Williams celebrated the team’s success, noting that every member contributed points to the overall second-place total. “The community that that we've all built has been really special.”
Additional PCHS Debate Team accomplishments:
Clay Hicke and Alex O'Brien - 2nd Public Forum
Zach Watkins and Zach Minter - 3rd Public Forum.
GraceAnne Moe and Caterina Erlinger - 3rd Policy.
Izzy Morris - 2nd Informative Speaking/
PCHS 2nd Place State Debate Team members include: Max Goldberg, Zoe Peck, Savannah Tary, Montana Burack, McNeil Moreno, Drew Murray, Perla Vazquez, Natalie Best, Cody Rutkowski, Harper Nagel, Amelie Stein and MacKirin Mick.
