This year at Eaglecrest, Speech and Debate is back in action.

Last year was very restrictive in what the team was able to achieve. Because of Covid, the team was not able to be in person and had to do a lot of over-the-screen debates. 

Returning senior Mason Bachman said, “It was a completely new environment that we had to adjust to. It was more accessible but less personal.” As we know from last year, for most, “being online made things feel less in touch with everybody else.” 

“Every tournament was online so it took away just most of the joy. It really changes the Interaction,” said junior Nadia Brooks.” 

With hopes that Covid is not going to make a full comeback with the new Delta variant, there is some exciting news about what’s to come with the new year. Sr. Katelyn Maughan said, “I’m mostly excited for the community that we sort of lost last year with virtual tournaments, especially since now we can meet and compete in person.”  Adding to the community, the team will be getting a new assistant coach this year which is very exciting news to new and returning club members. 

While tournaments tend to be very long (more than 10 hours sometimes), with all this time it’s a safe and chill space where you can hang out with each other, where you can all bond together, and where you can feel free. The speech and debate team have a great sponsor too: Ms. Mcculloch with the new coach being her sister. Ms. Mcculloch is also a State tournament director with the CHSAA organization.

“My involvement helps make the team realize the value in what the team does,”  Ms. Mcculloch said. The team also gets a lot of special experiences that a lot of other teams don’t have because of her roles –but to get there it takes a lot of hard work. When preparing for the tournament, speech and debate starts to feel more like a sport.

“It takes just as much effort as a sport because you have to spend so much time building your cases and speech,” Ananya Shrestha, a junior said.

With the new year, speech and debate, along with other clubs, seems to have very promising and successful activities and events, and their members are excited for the things to come ahead. 

If you didn’t get the chance to sign up at the club fair be sure to email Ms. Mcculloch at @amcculloch2 to join the speech and debate club today, meetings every Tuesday from 3:45-4:45 in room W348.