Published On: June 5th, 2015By Leticia Fehling

Eisenhower, Aldine Students Selected to UIL Speech and Debate High School Honor Crew

Edwin-Rebollar-Jenny-Hwang-Asza-Enoch-Yarely-Guerra-1

Edwin Rebollar, Jenny Hwang, Asza Enoch and Yarely Guerra pose (l-r) at the state meet.

Students from middle schools and high schools can take part in Speech and Debate. The club sharpens their reasoning and debating skills.

A total of four students from [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Eisenhower High School and [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Aldine High School attended the State UIL Speech and Debate Meet. The competition took place May 25-27 in Austin.

Edwin Rebollar and [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Jenny Hwang represented Aldine High School. [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Yarely Guerra and [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]Asza Enoch represented Eisenhower High School. They headed to the meet where they served as part of the State Speech and Debate High School Student Honor Crew. Members of the Honor Crew serve as volunteers during the speech and debate contests. According to the UIL website, the Honor Crew recognizes outstanding speech students who aren’t already involved in the state meet. Only 54 students from the entire state form part of the Honor Crew.

Yarely Guerra was elected chairperson of the Poetry High School Student Honor Crew.

This is the second year that Asza and Yarely attended the state meet. Asza earned an invitation to state after placing fourth at the regional meet in poetry. Both students formed part of the 2015 Class of Eisenhower High School.

The [icons icon_name=”icon-external-link” icon_size=”14px”]National Forensic League lists many of the advantages to joining speech and debate. Students who take part in speech and debate have stronger critical thinking skills. They also tend to have better grades on standardized tests. Speech and debate also has a higher rate of people who graduate.

Like athletic sports, speech and debate activities are challenging and competitive in nature. They require regular practice, coaching, dedication, and hard work. Each event in speech and debate features a different form of public speaking and requires a unique skill set and talent.

[ul class=”list list-search”] [li]Speech involves a presentation by one, two, or sometimes a group of students. They compete against similar types of presentations by others in a round of competition. Speech events include limited preparation events that require extensive knowledge of current events. They also include dramatic and humorous interpretation. The latter challenges students to find powerful moments in literature and recreate them for an audience.

[/li] [li]Debate involves an individual or a team of debaters working to convince a judge that his or her side of a resolution is more valid. Students in debate come to thoroughly understand both sides of the resolution. They have to research each extensively, and learn to think critically about every argument that opponents can make on each side.[/li][/ul]

Angela Ford-Robinson coached the Ike team. Maria Starling and Walter Lane coached the Aldine High team. Starling serves as the speech and debate coach and Lane is the theater arts teacher at their campus. All three educators attended the meet to support their students.

“In speech and debate there is a lot of teamwork and preparation,” said Ford-Robinson. “Not only must they prepare to speak, but they also need to prepare themselves mentally. They have to be clever and must think fast on their feet. Everyone goes in wanting to win. But this is also fun. The students learn many valuable skills in speech and debate.“