In Grapevine on Sept. 14, high schools from all over the nation sent their Speech and Debate teams to compete and take the first place prize. The Emerson Speech and Debate Team over the course of a two day period competed in speech and debate events. They competed alongside students as far as from California all the way to local teams in their district. Sadly, there were not as many victories as they wanted, however there was one notable victory that the team claimed at the competition. Dylan Hollomon, 11, a student who competed in the prose division reached the finals, and made it among the top five competitors prize.

“We are so proud of how our team competed,” Speech and Debate coach Michael Herman said. “Next year we will come back stronger than ever.”

The team competed in debate categories such as Lincoln Douglas Debate and Congressional Debate. The team competed in speech events like Prose, Poetry, and Extemporary Speech. Everyone competed in multiple rounds of their chosen event which provided them many chances to prove their skill.

“Everyone was there for multiple hours each day,” Fariha Shadiq, 12, said. “It really shows their dedication to the team.”

To prepare for the tournament, students study their event intensely by studying through late nights, and using their power hours to write their debates. Whether they are preparing for a speech, or a debate the students all put in effort to make sure they are ready for the national competition. As one of the speech captains, Shadiq has been helping and observing the team every class to make sure they accomplish their goals.

“The team has been working tirelessly to prepare for the tournament,” Shadiq said. “The officers including I are already so happy with how the whole class is doing.”

The Speech and Debate team has been at Emerson High School since its first opening. The team last year went to the Grapevine Classic, and now is coming back for round two.

Herman has been working tirelessly to get the team to the point that it’s at.

“I arrived at the school as the speech and debate teacher last year,” Michael Herman said. “And I’ve loved it ever since.”

The team is already preparing for their next tournament, taking critiques and notes from the Grapevine Classic to improve their pieces for any upcoming competitions.