Mountain Home Speech and Debate teams earns high recognition

The Mountain Home Speech and Debate team, shown here during a squad night.

"Have Fun and Learn Something," is the motto for the Mountain Home High School Speech and Debate, which team has earned high recognition by the National Forensic League.

The team was placed in the top 5 percent of NFL chapters nationwide and qualified for the NFL "200 Club."

The award shows that the program is teaching essential life skills, communication, research, listening, writing and organization to a large number of students, according to its advisor and coach, John Petti.

As members of the NFL, students can earn "degrees" based on their experience. Students acquire points to earn more prestigious degrees for every round in which they compete. Parents can also track their students' records in speech and debate at nflonline.org.

The Speech and Debate team, the Talkin' Tigers, is coached by Petti, who began with the team in 2005. Currently Petti teaches four different speech/debate classes: Freshman Debate, Novice (10th-11th grade), Competitive Speech and Advanced Debate.

The program, sanctioned by the IHSAA (Idaho High School Activities Association), has grown in enrollment from six students in its first year to 88 students in 2008.

The team has participated in tournaments taking place all over Idaho, including Pocatello, Twin Falls and Idaho Falls.

In a tournament, the team competes in three styles of debate -- Lincoln-Douglas, Policy and Public Forum, and in a series of individual speech events including Expository Speech, Duo Interpretation, Impromptu Speaking and Humorous/Serious Interpretation.

According to the student handbook the goals of competitive speech and debate is for students to learn how to learn, develop critical listening skills, build confidence in public speaking, acquire good sportsmanship and prepare to participate in a democratic society.

Last year, the team won the Twin Falls Speech Tournament and finished third at the Columbia Tournament. In total, the students won 150 trophies.

The team will host its second annual U-Bus-2-Us tournament Feb. 6-7. The Mountain Home team finished second in last year's overall competition, whose name comes from the fact that for many years Mountain Home only traveled to other schools for tournaments.

The team has garnered strong parental and community support, including donations from Three Springs and the Officers/Spouses Club totalling approximately $700.

Held every Wednesday, the team puts on Squad Nights. The Squad Nights began on Sept. 16 and will end in April. Squad nights last from 3:15-4:45 p.m.

During a squad night, students may participate in practice debates, practice their speeches, get one-on-one help from Coach Petti, research, practice reading arguments, work on speed drills and clarity and fine tune their debate arguments. There are additional squad nights the students could attend during the tournament schedule.

"I think the students are having fun, the students are motivated and I just think the kids are enjoying it, " said Petti.

The students all share the same positive sentiment about the debate team.

"I enjoy doing debate. I make it a big priority in my life. With debate, you could learn so much about the world," said debate captain Rebecca Smith.

"It's pretty awesome. The team is a lot of fun to hang and work out with," said Sarah Wright.