On Saturday January 20, the Speech and Debate team competed at Denver South High School for the DPS Invitational. The team has been doing well their whole season and at this competition there were many outstanding students leading the way.
One of the coaches for the team, Mr. Saliman, has been coaching for eleven years. He says that he has seen a lot of growth from the beginning of the year. At the beginning the students were just trying to figure out how to be persuasive. But as they’ve gone farther they have started to be strategic and fluent which has many people placing at competitions.
There are many outstanding students on the Speech and Debate team. One of them is senior Perri Deshler. She is in her second year and placed 3rd in Humor over the weekend. She picks a scene or a monologue from an entertainment platform and performs it in front of judges.
“It was a good way to get out of my shell, try something new,” says Deshler.
Her goal is to make it to Nationals by the end of the regular season which ends in March.
Sophomore Emmett Moxon competes in the Duo category with Carly Calhoun. Over the weekend they placed 5th in their event. Moxon has been on the team since his freshman year and loves it. He appreciates the competitive nature of the activity.
“It’s super fun to compete against other people who have the same interests as you,” says Moxon.
There have been many goals for the team this year but the biggest one comes from Coach Saliman.
“I want everybody on the team to get better than where they started”
Based on the success so far this year it’s safe to say that Saliman’s goal is being reached. The Speech and Debate team will continue to compete into March and if any of the students place for Nationals those students will continue until June.
Saliman wants to make sure that students who are debating joining the team next year knows that there is a place for everyone on the team due to the large variety of events you can participate in.
Wish the team luck for their next competition on February 2nd and February 3rd!
