Potomac’s debate team is one of the best debate teams in the country: fostering speech and debate All-Americans. Overall, speech and debate is an excellent learning experience in public speaking and makes up a great community here at Potomac. The program’s overwhelming and consistent success is notable both in the Potomac School and Speech and Debate communities nationwide. 

Speech and debate are two different events. Speech is where students prepare a presentation beforehand, whether it is an interpretation of an existing text or an original work. On the other hand, in debate, students prepare arguments for and against a given topic every month. The topic comes out on the 15th of each month, so students have about two weeks to do their research. Although the styles differ in these two events, the overall ideas are the same. Speech and debate focus on public speaking and presentations. It is also centered around persuasion, whether arguing on an issue or giving a prepared speech with a claim. Speech and debate tournaments have qualification rounds that progress into elimination rounds. Smaller tournaments take place over a day, while larger ones take a little longer. 

The question is, what makes Potomac’s speech and debate team different from other high schools? The Current interviewed the newest faculty member of the team, Mr. Ryan Levesque, to ask for his opinion. Levesque commented that the key defining feature is the “commitment to the program…The school allows [us] to compete at the highest levels of competition. A lot of schools or areas are more restricted.” Potomac students have traveled as far as Florida for tournaments. They have also gone to colleges such as Harvard to compete. Potomac’s dedication to the program is one of the key defining features. Another key to the program’s success is Coach Harry Strong. Coach Strong is the cornerstone of the program, and many of his students believe that he is a major reason the debate team is so successful. However, the biggest advantage that the Potomac team has, according to Levesque, is the students. He says that speech and debate is “what you put into it.” Potomac students are so dedicated to this activity, and in the end, that is what makes it stand out.

Speech and debate offers so many opportunities for students in high school. Levesque commented, “The value of speech and debate is undeniable: you’re growing in confidence, you’re growing in critical thinking, creative problem solving.” When asked if he had any advice for students considering speech and debate, Leveque said, “Do it. Don’t think about it; just show up. You will not regret it.”