The Redhawk debate team competed at its second competition on Saturday at Melissa High School.
“I am always excited to see our debaters compete,” debate coach Michelle Porter said. “It allows them the opportunity to showcase their skills.”
After their first competition on Sep. 20, the team worked to move forward with new and improved strategies and information.
“Even though it was a great experience and our team did really well, we definitely have improvements to make,” senior Neha Ramachandran said. “Success in debate is heavily dependent on continuously incorporating new feedback to keep improving.”
The work paid off at Saturday’s competition in Melissa as the team swept the top three places in Informative Extemp with Ramachandran helping the team develop chemistry.
“My role is to encourage leadership and camaraderie in the team,” Ramachandran said. “Each individual is responsible not only for their own growth but for the team’s growth.”
Throughout their competitions, the team does its best to support and encourage one another according to sophomore Trisha Bongale.
“We keep the atmosphere light while still making sure we’re prepared,” Bongale said. “We like to joke around and support each other before rounds so the nerves don’t take over.”
With competitions such as Saturday’s taking hours to complete, Ramachandran tries to help Porter maintain a balance between focus and fun to create a smooth and successful experience.
“With a competitive event like debate, it is easy to get bogged down by the pressure of competition and lose out on the fun,” Ramachandran said. “However, our team is really good at making the program a fun experience for everyone involved.”
Following competitions, the team reflects on their performances to identify areas for improvement.
“We discussed ways to incorporate general trends in feedback we received,” Ramachandran said. “For example, because a lot of the feedback from the judges focused on hand gestures, intonation and facial expressions, we focused on emphasizing these elements with the team members.”
The debate team found that reviewing their previous rounds greatly benefited their progress with 12 students placing in the top five at Melissa.
“Our team quickly realized what our main strengths and weaknesses were, which gave us a clearer idea of what to focus on,” Bongale said. “We noticed that while we had solid arguments prepared, we needed to work on more specific elements and implement them into daily drills to practice and get better.”
Redhawks results from Saturday’s debate competition at Melissa High School:
Informative Extemp
- 1st Place – Akshay Jagan
- 2nd Place – Manini Punihani
- 3rd Place – Mahi Kosuri
Persuasive Extemp
- 2nd Place – Neha Ramachandran
Lincoln Douglas (Varsity)
- 1st Place – Charita Degulapet
- 2nd Place – Sankeertana Malakapalli
Lincoln Douglas (Novice)
- 1st Place – Almasnoor Mohammed
- 3rd Place – Samhith Akkineni
- 4th Place – Aarthikaa Sridhar
- 5th Place – Sonali Rao
CX (Policy)
- 5th Place – Nazim Ayub & Aahaan Bhakta
