Speech and Debate starts up in Burlington

Burlington will have another team competing this school year, as they’ve added a Speech and Debate program. “I was approached and told that there was a student wanting to compete in speech and debate, but that they would have to join another team in our district because we didn’t have one,” said Coach Shelby Moore. “I had always hoped that I would one day be able to start a team in Burlington, because I competed in speech and debate all throughout high school and college. This seemed to be the perfect opportunity, with me having just started my full-time paraprofessional position at the school. The school district and administration were incredibly supportive of starting a team and helped walk me through the process. I had a fantastic group of students sign up, that all have the drive and natural talent that makes them perfect for this activity. I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide them with an activity that fits their talents and gives them a way to be a part of school extracurricular activities outside of sports.”
The students have participated in two tournaments so far and have seen great success. They took first place in the 1A-2A sweepstakes at the Cody Novice Tournament in November, with Kitzen Schatz placing first in Oratory, Emma Bullinger placing first in Informative, Hannah Bullinger placing third in Humor, Raygen Andrew placing third in Poetry, Faith Davidson placing third in Drama and Daniela Garcia placing sixth in Humor.
The team placed first again in the small schools team sweepstakes at the Hot Springs Holiday Miracle Novice Tournament in Thermopolis on Saturday. K. Schatz took first again in Oratory and tied for first with Dusti Schatz in Lincoln Douglas Debate. D. Schatz also placed third in Informative Speaking. Andrew placed third in Drama and fourth in Poetry. Garcia placed fourth in Drama. Aubbri Wagner placed third in Poetry. Davidson placed third in Extemporaneous Speaking and fourth in Lincoln Douglas Debate and David McBride placed fifth in Student Congress.
“All the students have jumped in with both feet, even though they had no previous idea of what speech and debate entails. I could not be more proud of the effort that they put in and the drive that they have to succeed. I also couldn’t have achieved all of this without the mentorship of Wendy Kuper, she was an incredible coach in her own right and I admired her team when I was competing in high school. I am lucky to have her help with building our team. Analise Baird is also volunteering as an assistant coach and has provided great feedback to our competitors,” said Moore.
The next competition will be in January and will be the first against varsity members. “It will be a big test for our kids and
they will be working hard over break to prepare for it,” said Moore.