by Isaiah Gong
On March 28, nine teams from SHS competed in the Massachusetts Speech and Debate League state tournament. After two days, each team across the novice and varsity divisions had secured at least two wins. Additionally, a sophomore team, Riya Sreeram and Jenna He, advanced to Octos.
This year, the debate team competed in twenty tournaments. Sharon High School’s team competes in Public Forum (PF), where a pair of debaters prepare speeches for and against a resolution. A round comprises four speeches, with preparation time and crossfires in between. During the rounds, the team argues against their opponents’ case, defends their case, and wins over the judge with persuasive techniques and compelling evidence.
“PF debate is firstly about learning portable skills such as persuasion, presentation, and confidence,” said captain Andrew Xin. “It helped me speak loudly, speak more confidently, and have more confidence in my own abilities. Secondly, it’s the community. I’ve grown closer to a lot of people on the team and have met people who I otherwise would have never met. It’s exciting.”
For novice Haniya Hussain, interacting with other debaters was the highlight of her experience. “I feel like the best part of debate is the community,” Hussain said. Senior captain Victoria Kartashev added, “Because we’re a team, we can share all of our frustrations and what we need to get done about the current topic. Debate is never a one-man sport. It’s always everybody working together to do the best job we can.”
Hussain emphasizes that debating is only a part of the PF experience, “Once you get to tournaments, you make great friends there who share the same interests as you,” she said. “Furthermore, the Sharon Debate team itself is filled with dedicated, talented individuals and I’m happy that I get to be a part of that.” Next year, Hussain is excited to be part of varsity debate and is looking forward to developing her skills against harder opponents.
While debate serves to enrich the high school experience, it also has many real-world benefits. For instance, debating can teach valuable soft skills such as networking and communication. “Debate is important because it forces you to get out of your comfort zone and meet new people,” Xin said. “You have to literally stand up in front of parents, in front of other teenagers from every other school in Massachusetts, and convince them of something that you may or may not care about. Being able to present, being able to be confident, being persuasive, and being able to do something uncomfortable are really important skills.”
Debate, Kartashev explained, also teaches students how to research and stay up to date with current events: “If you want to know what’s going around you, then debate is a great place to start. It helps you with your researching skills and also, and thinking on your feet. A lot of times during a speech, you have 30 or 20 seconds to come up with a response to something that your opponents have said.”
After high school, Kartashev plans to continue following debate topics. “Debate has genuinely helped me so much in figuring out what’s going on in the world right now,” she said, “like when we’re learning about the Artemis Accords or AI in education or anything like that—it’s always very current. So even after high school, I still think I’ll be involved in debate, just because it’s good to know what’s going on around you.”
In terms of advice for new debaters, Xin stressed the importance of consistency and resilience. “Just compete,” he said. “You are not going to win unless you debate. Just keep going to tournaments and your skills will build up. You may not win the tournament, but you are going to win skills and you’re going to win friends. There is no loss to trying this activity. There is only the benefit of having the experience.”
As senior captains Victoria Kartashev and Kari Harris move on from high school, another great debate season awaits in the next school year. If you are interested in learning more about or joining the debate team, club advisor Ms. Jolicoeur ([email protected]) is open for questions.