A state of debate

The debate team competes in Jefferson City tournament

Allison Baker, Staff Writer

On January 31, 2014 the Ritenour High School debate team went to Jefferson City, Mo. for the Capitol Classic Speech and Debate tournament.

Out of seven people who went on the trip, only freshman Allie Pashia made it through to the finals.

Pashia prepared before the event, practicing her piece before the tournaments.

“The hardest part was picking which piece of the book I had to use,” Pashia said.

She chose a piece from the book “Asylum” by Madeline Roux, and it turned out to be a successful choice.
“I chose this because it was new and I like trying new things” Pashia said.

Pashia was one of very few people to go to finals in prose, a category where a performer reads and acts out of an excerpt of a story. Prose performers must use hand gestures, change their voice, and do anything possible to enhance their performance from beyond a basic reading.

Accompanying Pashia on the trip were freshmen Emily Mannucci, KaSandra Dalton, and Elexis Hubbard; senior Tamia Morris; and juniors Sara DeClue and Jonathan Doyle.

While some others competed with Pashia in prose, DeClue, Hubbard, and Dalton were in the debate section.
Debate is formal discussions about a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward.

The debate section of this tournament focused on ways to help in areas such as prevention of wildfires, pollution, and the homeless.

The people in this tournament were either in Andrade’s debate class or club members. Debate has no tryouts, only signups, and aside from this trip, they compete in other local competitions.

This tournament was the first major tournament that Dalton competed in as a debater.

“It felt amazing. I was nervous, but after the first round I was on it like white on rice,” Dalton said