Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Wood-Weas.
Sixteen Mountain Brook students, including these seven from MBHS, will be competing in the national speech and debate tournament. Back row, from left: Hayden Sledge, Russ Weas, Jack Smith, Pavel Shirley. Front row, from left: Griffin Darden, Ben Harris and Chloe Kinderman.
Mountain Brook Speech and Debate’s history dates back to 1972, and for the first time, the school district will host Speech and Debate Nationals this summer from June 18-23.
“To be a host school is important because it allows us an opportunity to welcome students from all over the world into our school to compete in policy debate, largely considered the premier debate event,” said Liz Wood-Weas, president of the Alabama Speech and Debate Association and director of Speech and Debate at MBHS. “As president of the state association, I want my school represented.”
While other venues will host different events throughout the week, policy debate will be at the high school, which Wood-Weas said is fitting since Mountain Brook is the only school in the state to have policy debate teams. Those competitions will be June 19 and 20.
Sixteen Spartans will compete from Mountain Brook, although students at the high school level had to win an invitation to nationals at their district tournament. There will be at least 4,000 debaters and possibly another 4,000 spectators, all of whom will bring in both monetary and additional intangible benefits, Wood-Weas said.
“Debate teaches kids to know and understand someone else’s perspective, how to support their own ideas with evidence, and … it exposes my students to so many different cultures and personalities that extend beyond our own high school or even city walls,” she said. “If the kids win and get trophies, that’s just a bonus.”
To learn more about the event, go to speechanddebate.org/nationals. To find out when and where Spartan representatives will be competing, or to volunteer, contact Wood-Weas at woodwease@mtnbrook.k12.al.us or 281-6307.
