The second weekend of February, four Argyle students participated in the District Meet for the National Speech and Debate Association.
One of them, Maggie McGehee, qualified for the National Tournament, to be held this June.
Craig Hertel, Argyle ISD’s teacher of teathre, speech and debate, was the debate sponsor who took the students on this trip. “Argyle has not done this before. This is the first time that we’ve gone this year for this organization. So it was all new and we did not know what to expect” Hertel said.
The other three students who participated, Emily Volk, Morghan Stewart and Katie Shinn, placed high in their events as well.
McGehee qualified for the “Congress” event, and students who are competing there will be advocating bills and speak on their behalfs or against them. She is going to have to know about the bills and have reasons and facts to support them or to strike down the bills.
“All competitors get a docket beforehand so they have a week to two weeks probably to prepare ahead of time for potentially what they are going to speak on. It’s a series of persuasive speeches basically” Hertel said.
If McGehee wins, she has a big chance of getting several scholarships. “This is a really prestigious thing to win, because people from all over the nation will be there. Thousands of people will be involved in it. It’s a pretty big deal” Hertel said.
For more information about Argyle ISD, visit http://www.argyleisd.com
Fabianna Blanco is an intern handling media relations for the Argyle Independent School District.
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