AFTER a great year of debate, Granger’s debate team is gearing up for regions. The team pulled off an amazing performance this year by finishing in the top ten in four tournaments in a row, despite only competing in speech events and not the larger point events. The Granger debate has just one more tournament before regions. This tournament will decide who, in each category, will go to regions. A few kids on the debate team shared their process for getting ready for regions.

 “I’m actively practicing speeches and reviewing political atmospheres in the United States,” Alejandro Navario (10) said. Alejandro is one of the debate officers. He is a master in Foreign and Domestic “extemporaneous” or political questions. For the past two years, he has been dominating in his field. Alejandro Navario has won regions before, and he’s ready to take on the challenge.

“To prepare for regions, I’m going to perform for my English, LIA, French teachers, and Coach Tuckness. I’m going to read my speech every day so it’s engraved in my brain,” Jaqueline Lopez Ortega (12) said. Ortega is competing with an informative speech, and she always does a good job making everyone laugh and have a good time during the long tournaments.

For regions, I’m going to practice every other day and practice what my critics said. To learn from my mistakes,” Hunter Sandoval (12) said. She has been in debate for a very long time and is one of the most experienced on the team. She has done a variety of categories during her debate career. At the moment, she is doing an impromptu speech. An impromptu is a speech given without preparation. During a tournament, Sandoval will get a word, and she will quickly have to come up with a whole speech that relates to that word — right off the top of her head.

 “The thing I’m doing to prepare is reviewing my speech every night. Another thing is making sure I get enough sleep every night,” Jacob Morga (10) said. Morga was a novice, as this was his first year in debate. Morga is competing with an informative speech. That means he gives speeches to inform people about different subjects. His bread and butter is how music affects emotions. Morga is so good at speaking that he leaves anyone in the audience in awe.

The debate team is fired up and ready to go, and they worked hard all year to be the best. But as the saying goes, “to beat the best, you have to be the best.” Granger still has some challenges to overcome. They’ve never shied away from a little challenge. They will honor Granger High’s motto, “Per Angusta Ad Augusta,” which translates to “Through Trials and Adversity, We Will Reach the Heights,” when they compete February 20-21 at Hunter High.