Niwot, Creek and Dawson students' excel at State Forensics Festival

Many students initially enroll in forensics (speech and debate) to overcome their fear of public speaking, to improve those skills or even to simply fulfill an extracurricular requirement. But for some students, forensics quickly becomes a passion.

Last weekend, students were able to compete at the state level and had to bring their A-game. "It's very exciting to attend larger tournaments, because the competition is usually more intense and you get to see a variety of different competitors and their unique speaking styles," said Niwot junior Hannah Piersol, who competed in original oratory, an event where you write and perform a seven minute speech. "The state tournament has a different energy to it that makes it so special... [But] I missed seeing my teammates."

Debaters often choose their events based on its application to real life, and opportunity for learning. Charlie Romano, a junior from the Dawson School said, "My favorite part about public forum [a two-on-two debate] is that it gives you the ability to learn in-depth about more obscure issues in the world."

Speech and interpretive students, meanwhile, seem to be drawn to the slightly more performative and informative nature of their events. Niwot sophomore Anika Nagpal competed in original oratory as well. "I think it gives you a voice to talk about something you're passionate about," she said. This event typically allows students to inform, advocate and persuade on a given issue.

Dawson freshman Shanti Harrison competed at the state festival in the poetry event. For this event, students find between three to five poems and arrange them in such a way so as to present a larger story or even a call to action. "I felt it [poetry] would really allow me to convey the message I want to put out in the world--equality... I looked at poems about influential people and then about empowerment. One of my favorite poems is 'Still I Rise,' by Maya Angelou. It's an amazing poem, it really inspires me."

As with seemingly every facet of life, the forensics tournaments and festivals have been affected by COVID. Instead of bussing students to one school and having dozens of rooms with students debating and performing, the state competition was held virtually. Some events were asynchronous and students simply sent in recordings of their pieces.

Such was the case for Silver Creek senior Caden Weihe, who also competed in poetry. He said, "I did basically nothing the day of the event speech wise, but the day or two before, I was making a bunch of recordings until I felt like one was good."

For events that had to be live--like debates and extemporaneous events--various zoom rooms were set up. Dawson public forum debaters were lucky in that the school allowed the teams to be on campus. "There were four of us in the middle school building," explained senior Alexandra Sirras. "It was entirely different and kind of weird, but it was nice to be able to safely end the season with my teammates."

Despite the fact that the tournament was virtual, for most, the students still seemed to be able to feel a semblance of the excitement and anxiety that comes with in-person tournaments. Kaitlin Ruth, a sophomore from Silver Creek, described the atmosphere as different, "but not necessarily in a bad way. It was still exciting and fun, but also more relaxed because we weren't exposed to the constant buzz and chaos of a state tournament."

That's not to say that there was no chaos--apparently, Speechwire, the site used for the asynchronous events and other aspects of tournaments, had some technical difficulties as did some of the Zoom rooms. Students were being emailed the results of the next round, which created a combination of anxiety and excitement. "State was definitely still exciting," described Dawson junior Jackson Ringwald. "Waiting for an email to see if you progressed to the next round is just as intense as waiting for the lineups to get taped to the wall at an in-person debate."

Notably, Ringwald and his partner Romano went up against Sirras and her partner, and fellow senior/captain Pierre Berdou for the final rounds in public forum. Each student made note, saying it was memorable and exciting. "I will never forget having to debate our junior teammates in the final round," he said. "It was the most difficult round of the day and I'm really proud of them for making it that far."

"My partner and I are both seniors, so State was our last competition," said Sirras. "It just felt so final to leave that night. We talked to our junior team for a bit, chatted with our coach, and as we walked out to our cars, my partner looked at me and, as if straight out of a Hallmark movie, smiled and said, 'We did it.' It was unfathomably cliche, but I'm glad I got to wrap up my last debate season how I did."

For more information about speech and debate, you can visit the national website at https://www.speechanddebate.org/. For a more detailed summary of the state placings, you can visit the CHSSA site here https://chsaanow.com/2021-01-31/final-results-2021-chsaa-state-speech-and-debate-festival/