It's a great day to be a Panther!
Speech & Debate
Speech and debate is a club that competes in dramatic public speaking. Central chooses to focus on speaking events rather than debating events since that’s where the most interest lies.
Students compete for individual awards in poetry, prose, congress, informational/persuasive oratory, dramatic performance and impromptu speaking. Most events are individual, but sometimes there are partner events, as well.
The team’s small size allows for a family-like environment where teamwork is prominent. Their coach, Aaron Dom, does an amazing job working with the kids and is helping them continue this organization in the future.
They meet Wednesdays and Thursdays after school in the HUB every week where they choose to work on their events, give advice to their peers or receive advice from their coach.
Speech and debate participates in different day-long tournaments throughout the year. The team arrives at the high school on tournament mornings, dressed in business attire.
The club has multiple rituals, including vocal warm ups and their Central cheer.
The event begins with an opening assembly which is followed by the opening rounds of the tournament. Once the event has begun, the team splits up according to their events and competes all day until late afternoon when the event comes to a close around 6 p.m.
A major competitor for the Central team is Dallastown. Being so small, it’s challenging for the speech and debate team to be competitive pointwise since some teams have around 50 members.
After tournaments, it has become a tradition for the team to stop at their favorite team restaurant, Olive Garden.
As a team and a family, speech and debate is an up and coming club at Central.