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Sometimes you can find a silver lining
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in the dark cloud of the COVID pandemic.
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Durango High School’s first
year debate team certainly did.
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Last summer, a group of students proposed
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to form a debate team for
the first time in years,
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but the proposal nearly
died on the podium.
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That’s because the school
didn’t have the funds
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to pay for the team’s travel expenses.
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But debate teams don’t need a gym
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or playing field to compete.
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So when COVID forced
competitions on to Zoom,
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the Demon debate team soon found itself
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not only entering tournaments,
but winning them too.
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In fact, the team won
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the Western Slope District Sweepstakes.
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Coach Todd Jolley was named
top new coach of the year
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and five members from the
first year team will compete
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in the national tournament in June.
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Jolley attributes the
team’s first year success
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to a lot of early failures
on the debate circuit,
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because team members were trying
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to be too nuanced and balanced.
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And I remember the
moment where I was like,
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You guys need to be more like Cable News.
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And it was like breaking
my heart to say that,
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but also it helps us win .
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We’ve done a lot better
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since we became more
partisan on either side.
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And lots of the kids like Lucas Spader
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one of our competitors
will switch his sides
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in the same round and be like,
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I changed my mind, you
guys are so persuasive,
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and then give a speech
from the other side,
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which is really cool,
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rhetorically, to see
them be able to do that.
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Senior Jacob Genualdi,
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says his teammates helped him qualify
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for the national tournament in
U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking,
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with the feedback they gave
him during practice rounds.
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Some words look good on paper
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and some words are really
meant to be spoken.
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And so that was a really important
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kind of revelation for me
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’cause I know there’s sometimes
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when I’ll write out a
speech and I’ll be like,
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oh, that sounds just great,
looking at it on paper,
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but then when it just doesn’t
quite come out quite right.
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So that’s really the thing about
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really focusing on speech
rather than writing.
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Junior Thomas Pope,
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who took first place at the district meet
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to qualify for nationals in
U.S. Extemporaneous Speaking,
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says team members’
differing political views
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helped him sharpen his arguments.
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The good thing about debate is
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cause there’s definitely
people who lean very far right,
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very far left and more in the center.
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And we’re all able to
give each other feedback
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on our speeches to make
sure it’s not so polarizing
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and it’s still being persuasive because
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if you’re just preaching
to the choir all the time,
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you’re really not going to get better.
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But when you’re able to have that discord
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with people who don’t
agree with you on much,
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then you’re able to really
improve your own persuasion.
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Other national qualifiers
include Lucas Spader,
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who won first place at districts
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for International Extemporaneous
Speaking and qualified
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for the national student Congress,
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Ethan Gray, who won first at districts,
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to qualify for student Congress,
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Hunter gray, who won
third in student Congress
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to attend nationals,
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and Owen Babcock, who won
fifth in student Congress
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and will attend the
nationals as an alternate.
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But Jolly says the real winner
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of the debate team’s
accomplishments is the country.
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As a coach, it’s been
such a pleasure to do this
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in such a polarized year
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and when we need citizenship
and civility more than ever.
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I mean at any time,
since at least the 1960s
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more like the 1860s, we need the civility.
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And so I’m seeing young people be civil
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and be active in their community
has just been important
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to me as an individual,
not just as an educator.
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So it gives me hope for the future
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to see these kids doing this.
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And I’m so proud to know
that they’re going to go
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out in their communities
and make a difference.
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Jolly expects high school speech
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and debate tournaments to return
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to in-person competitions next year.
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And so returning team
members are launching a
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fundraising campaign to cover $14,000
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in travel expenses for a 14 member team.
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If you’d like to help visit
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durangoathletics.durangoschools.org
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and click on the donate button.
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Thanks for watching this edition
of the Local News Network
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serving Durango, Cortez,
Telluride, Pagosa Springs,
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and Farmington, New Mexico.
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I’m Wendy Graham Settle.