By Anikka Cook for The Burlington Bark
In 1925, the National Speech and Debate Association – called the National Forensics League at the time – was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin, to encourage high school students to participate in speech and debate activities. Burlington High School started its club the very same year, making it one of the association’s founding member schools. One-hundred years later, BHS Speech and Debate students uphold that legacy.
This year, Burlington High School Speech and Debate will send two of its students to the National Speech and Debate tournament in the summer. Sophomore Dresden Fishback will compete in Congressional debate and Freshman Miriam Petersen will attend as an alternate in Informative Speaking.
Fishback’s performance at the East Iowa District tournament in Congressional debate earned her 1st place among 25 students.
debate and qualifying for the national tournament.
Congressional debate can be daunting. Students receive stacks of mock congressional bills and role play as senators or representatives to argue for or against each bill. It’s an individual competition, but performance depends entirely on how students can respond to those around them and stand out to the judges. In every tournament, the bills and arguments are different.
“It doesn’t get boring,” said Fishack, joking about the rigor of the competition. “But it can be overwhelming since there’s so many different things.”
At the national tournament this summer, Fishback will hopefully debate in multiple rounds over five days as the pool of over 250 competitors gets cut down to one winner. Her strategy? It’s all in the preparation.
“You start by researching the topics of the legislation and gauging what angle you want to take,” said Fishback. “It’s helpful to prep multiple speeches and pray for the best. If somebody says something that you were planning on giving a speech on, you don’t want to give it.”
Petersen also participated in Congressional debate this season. She enjoys the unpredictability of the event.
“It’s fun to try and guess what the others will be about and try to find a different point to make,” said Petersen.
Dale Kurth, Burlington’s Speech and Debate Coach, encourages his students to make the argument others are afraid to make. He calls these arguments the “now what?” arguments.
“There’s going to be certain things they’re always going to say, and they’re called stock arguments. Once those are gone, now what?” said Kurth. The goal is always to advance debate.
Kurth’s goal has been to advance debate at Burlington High School since 1997. During his 26 year tenure as the Speech and Debate Coach, he’s coached hundreds of students at competitions across the country.
Kurth looks back fondly on his first season coaching in 1997.
“I was greeted at the door of our first debate team meeting with ‘Hi, we’re your mediocre debate team, don’t expect much,’” said Kurth. “They lied.”
That first team went from mediocre to being invited to national tournaments in places like Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, and Florida.
Kurth’s favorite part of coaching the Speech and Debate team is watching students experience new opportunities and grow over the years.
In any given year, the Speech and Debate team could compete every weekend from August to June. At the height of the team’s success under Kurth, they were attending 22 competitions a year.
“I’ve had some kids who are absolutely terrified and I thought I’d never see them again. They come back and now they’re lawyers or lobbyists,” said Kurth.
As a freshman member of the Speech and Debate team, Petersen underwent this type of growth during her first season of competition. Her original interest in the club was due to her acting experience, but she quickly found a love of public speaking.
Petersen competed in Informative Speaking, a 10 minute nonfiction speech where students expound on something they’re passionate about. Her topic was the art of puppetry.
“I’ve always been really interested in puppetry, and it’s something people don’t really talk about. It’s a dying art and has deep rooted history and scientific benefits in how it affects your brain,” said Petersen. Her 3rd place win at the East Iowa District tournament made her an alternate for the upcoming national tournament.
Though the National Speech and Debate tournament marks the end of this debate season, the club hopes it serves as a new beginning for the program.
“It’s been a really good year for us. They were small but mighty. That’s why we hope to perpetuate it and keep it going,” said Kurth.
The club’s focus now is recruiting more members for next year.
“Anyone can benefit from Speech and Debate. It brings so many new opportunities in being able to express yourself and learn to
articulate your beliefs and what you want to put out in the world,” said Fishback.
Petersen agreed. “It really teaches you how to communicate and, in my opinion, prepares you for future leadership positions.”
With so many varied events ranging from different types of speeches and debates to acting and even singing, there seems to be a place for everyone.
Kurth is excited to welcome new members and steward the club into a new era of excellence.
“Hopefully, with their enthusiasm and a couple of other members, we’ll get some people in and get back to having some fun on the road and go see some new places and meet new people.”
Students wanting to join Speech and Debate should contact Dale Kurth.
