The State High Speech and Debate team was founded in 1997 and never had the opportunity to attend national qualifiers. Now in 2026, this dream has become a reality. 

This year, national qualifiers took place on March 2 and March 4 at St. Francis University. The team faced a challenge when the second day of the competition was postponed due to the weather. Qualifiers were founded in 1931 by the National Forensics League, now the National Speech and Debate Association, with the first high school debate championship. The first competition had only 138 students participating; now there are over 6,000 participants, and State High gets to be included. 

The State High Speech and Debate Team sent about 20 members to national qualifiers. This year, the team has two presidents, Cece Vanness and Sol Lee, and new advisors. The two presidents are able to divide tasks between the two of them and are both juniors, so they have multiple years to lead the club. 

National qualifiers allow speech and debate members to showcase their skills, compete against others similar to them in skill, and potentially qualify for the national competition. Sophomore Lia Fox, the secretary and treasurer for the Speech and Debate club, attested to how participating in the club allows members to build their confidence.

“It’s definitely scary to get up in front of a bunch of people and talk. So I think it’s really helped me,” Fox said.

Junior Camille McConnon is a member of the Speech and Debate team and had the opportunity to compete at national qualifiers, receiving second place in Declamation.

“I think I’ve always been an outgoing person. But I do kind of tend to try to tone it down. Growing up, kids would tell me that I’m too loud or whatever. I think, as soon as I joined Speech and Debate, I realized that…just the whole point is to be obnoxious…insecurities about being too loud, being too this, being too bad. It’s a place where you can embrace that sort of stuff,” McConnon said.

Vanness also attested to how the State High Speech and Debate team has played a large role in its members’ lives. 

“I think speech [and] debate is really significant…because of the amount of confidence it gives students. And we are shameless braggers in the fact that we talk about how much our alumni do, and the type of impact that speech and debate makes on kids’ lives… We see kids from the time they’re in sixth grade, through the 12th grade, and graduating, and going off to college to pursue whatever they want to…and we know that we will see them do incredible things,” Vanness said, referencing the accomplishments of the club’s alumni, including attending Ivy League universities.

After 29 years, students at State High have finally been given the chance to attend national qualifiers and have had nine students qualify for nationals, an experience that has built their confidence and helped shape their future. These students include:

– Justina Wang in Lincoln Douglas debate (1st place)
– Maame Yeboah in Lincoln Douglas debate (2nd place)
– Camille McConnon in Declamation (2nd place)
– Anna Chen in Declamation (1st place)
– Sanai Purkait in Prose
– Joseph Janik and Sergei Zhdanov in Public Forum (2nd place)
– Ricky Nargi and Gilbert Zhao in Public Forum (1st place)

Thus, the 29 years of effort have paid off.