University Academy’s speech and debate program is an academic sport that allows students to find and use their voice, with help from Mr. Carl Stafford, the speech and debate teacher.
“Debate is an academic that happens to be an activity/sport—not the other way around,” Mr. Stafford said.
From UA Middle School to Upper School, any student can be a part of this program and help contribute to the Gryphons’ thriving speech and debate community.
Debate was introduced to UA in 2011 by Ms. Jane Rinehart, UA’s former debate teacher who started the program and is a debate legend, according to Mr. Stafford. When COVID-19 hit, the organization started to decline, and Mr. Stafford was hired to help save it. He also brought novice forensics. This is a program taught separately from debate itself that is more associated with acting and multiple variations of speech formats, which are performed solo or in groups.
Now, under Mr. Stafford’s guidance for the past five years, the speech and debate program has achieved multiple goals and stacked up countless achievements. The team boasts 85% parent involvement, and the Upper School is ranked in the top 25% in the world, while the UA Middle School team is ranked fourth in the state and fourth in the world by the National Speech and Debate Association, he said.
This year, UA had two students qualify for the Missouri State Speech and Debate tournament for the first time in school history, freshman Daleyah Dunn and sophomore Yatti Simmons. In addition, Dunn qualified for two national competitions, one in Des Moines, Iowa, and one in Chicago.
Mr. Stafford said his goals for the speech and debate program at UA are “to build a school of advocacy” and “to have an academic giant.”
Aaliyah Lee is a senior on the UA speech and debate team, and Sky Thomas is a sophomore on the team. Lee was a part of the program for two years, and Thomas has been in the program for five years and plans to continue throughout high school. Both girls have won numerous awards, and each has been a national qualifier twice.
Through debate, Lee has been one of the students Mr. Stafford has helped to find her voice and project it, use it.
“I feel confident and interested when I’m debating because I gain a lot of information while debating about the worldwide issues,” Lee said.
There is a lot of mental training and endurance is needed to succeed in this academic sport. When Lee competes, she participates in congressional debate, where she debates multiple people about multiple topics, and Lincoln-Douglas, which involves debating one person about a single topic. Thomas noted that she prepares at least 30 different speeches for some tournaments.
Throughout her debate participation, Thomas said she has learned from Mr. Stafford to use the power of her words to silence other competitors, which she said is one of her favorite things about debating. She plans to be a defense attorney for civil rights in her future.
This aligns with Mr. Stafford’s experiences and goals as a teacher, which include “teaching young people how to have a voice,” teaching them “how to write bills for their community,” and “teaching kids the law.”
With Mr. Stafford constantly recruiting, the debate team is always looking for new competitors. This is his last year at UA, but a new teacher personally recommended by Mr. Stafford will be at UA next year to continue the program.
For any students looking forward to being a judge, lawyer or public speaker, and for any students willing to put as much effort into speech and debate as they would a physical sport, this might be an option. Even if you’re not sure about your future path, give it a try.
