Formed during the 2011-2012 school year, the Archbishop Mitty High School Speech and Debate team has grown exponentially from its 20 member after-school club to a 140+ member team with an in-school class component. Since its inception, AMHS Speech and Debate has attracted significant interest as an educational and entertaining activity amongst its student body, drawing students from all departments and backgrounds at Mitty. Archbishop Mitty competes in one of the top Speech and Debate leagues in the country, the Coast Forensics League. In 2015 Archbishop Mitty's Speech and Debate program placed 5th in the State and top 10 in the Nation. In April 2017, the team defended their title as California State Champions. Checkout team updates at our website.
In speech and debate, students become members of the National Speech and Debate Association, a non-profit educational honor society that aims to foster public speaking and presentation skills. Students compete against fellow high school students in local, regional, and national competitions in several different events. The events range from fast-paced, academic debate, to quick-thinking impromptu events, to platform speeches advocating societal change, and theatrical interpretation events. At tournaments, students compete and have the opportunity to win trophies. More importantly, students learn important life lessons about leadership, teamwork, time management, persistency, humility, and confidence. These life lessons are even more rewarding than trophies, because they shine brighter and last longer.
Speech and Debate covers public speaking (speech) and argumentation (debate). There are a total of twelve individual events (IE), broken down into three categories: Original, Interpretive and Spontaneous events. There are a total of five debate events, consisting of either a single debater on each side, a team of two debaters on each side, or an individual debater within a larger group. A full list and explanation of all seventeen events can be found on our team web site.
You can always attend a tournament and watch competition rounds. Find our local league calendar schedule on the Coast Forensics League Website below.