FHN’s Speech and Debate team participated in districts on March 9-11 at Clayton high school and Pattonville high school.

“I think it’s great we qualified for nationals at duo interpretation,” freshman Uma Upamaka said. “But I also think we have some areas where we could improve.”

Districts, held by NSDA, determined who would qualify for Nationals in Birmingham, AL. Nationals are June 17-23. There are 10 different events held during Districts with anywhere from 16-18 contestants. These events can take all day and most students don’t get home until late at night.

“If they’re good enough, they could be participating in competitions all day,” coach Randy Pierce said. “One day we didn’t get home until 10 at night.”

Some events are like public speaking and others are actual debates. In debates, once a student has lost twice, they are eliminated. In the speaking events, once a student scores in the lower half twice, they are eliminated.

“I think I did good because my piece was pretty good,” freshman Suhas Andavolu said. “I made it past round three.”

To prepare for districts and nationals, the team has been participating in tournaments since August. They also practice twice a week to perfect their cases. Pierce encourages other students interested in Speech and Debate to reach out to him.

“Any students that are interested or even curious about it should definitely contact me,” Pierce said. “We always want more students to get involved.”