John Carroll’s Speech and Debate team grew this school year from one to 12 members. The team competed across the county and brought home several awards.

The team has seen considerable growth in the last school year.  The 2022-23 school year saw only two students as consistent competitors.  The two students who competed last year graduated, and the Speech and Debate team went into a rebuilding mode.

The team had one member in the first competition this school year.

However, there has been increased interest in the group, and the team has grown to 12 out of the season. Five students are also looking to join in the next school year.

Speech and Debate practices are held after school on Tuesdays, and they have competitions on Thursday evenings once or twice a month.

Competitions are hosted at different schools across the county.

The final competition of the school year was on Thursday, February 29 at North Harford High School.

Speech and Debate Moderator Lindsay Galicki said, “It is really exciting because parents are invited, and spectators are allowed there. It is a chance for the top competitors in the county to go up against each other. John Carroll is lucky to have four students who are going to finals.”

The four Patriots who advanced to the Harford County finals were senior Brady Larkin, junior Margaret Patterson, and freshmen Emma Bomboy and Claire Woods.

At this event, Brady and Margaret won first place in Dramatic Interpretation, and Claire won a second runner-up prize in Dramatic Interpretation.

Students could choose from a variety of events to participate at the competitions. These categories included an Oral Interpretation of Literature or Poetry, an Original Oratory, a Declamation (giving a famous person’s speech), and Team and Individual Debates.

At a typical competition, each member was assigned a room to perform their piece before a group of students and judges. The competition concluded with an awards ceremony.

Mrs. Galicki loves coaching the debate team for two reasons. “One, I have always been a performer, so I like to share with students my love for speaking in front of an audience. I like to coach students into finding pieces that are interesting to them and bring them joy to make it feel like it’s not a class but truly an extracurricular.”

The second reason she loves coaching the Speech and Debate team is “when students join who are not that great at public speaking, and I love the look on their faces when they start to get positive feedback from the judges and grow in their skills.”

Junior Margaret Patterson is ranked number one in the county in her category of Dramatic Interpretation Duos. Her favorite thing about speech and debate is “competition because the community is so endearing and encouraging.”