The Midtown Jester Speech and Debate team won the State Championship for the 13th year in a row. In March 2020, when Midtown switched to virtual learning due to Covid-19, so did debate. 

Following a year of online competitions, several members of the team are now advancing to nationals where they will compete in Louisville, KY. in person for the first time since February 2020. 

Senior Oliver Gray placed first in extemporaneous speaking at the March 5 tournament. He thinks that one of the reasons the team has continued to do good over the last decade is because of the standards created by the coaches.

“I think the reason we’ve done so well is the culture surrounding the team,” Gray said. “It’s not famous, but it’s well-known. There are always a lot of people on the team, and we have really good teachers who have a good sense of competition. I think what has really built this dynasty is the coaches who gave us a really good foundation.”

Speech and Debate coach Mario Herrera agrees, and he thinks that the environment debate provides is also a vital part of the team’s success. 

“We are kind of a family, and you are not going to do anything good if you are not enjoying yourself,” Herrera said. “It’s nice to be around people who are interested in the world the way that you are and can talk about it and articulate ideas in different ways. I think that really kind of draws people together.”

Following the online state competition, members of the team are starting to prepare for nationals later this year. Having not competed in-person since 2020, many members, including first-year debater, Fiona Bray, are nervous going into it. Bray, who competes in Lincoln-Douglas Debate, qualified for Congressional debate at nationals. 

“I’m pretty scared because I haven’t done an in-person competition, and I am not going to be doing it in my regular event,” Bray said.  “I’m pretty scared of that, just because I’m not used to having to speak in-person and everything that comes with that.”

Despite the nerves, Bray is looking forward to traveling and working with the team as a whole. 

“I think it will be a lot more fun to be there and actually competing with other people,” Bray said. “For our virtual competitions, we were all at school together, but we were still on a computer in separate rooms.”

Gray is also looking forward to the competition and thinks it will be fun to get to travel as a team again.

“I want to succeed, but it is a lot of work to get there, and I am going to have to beat some really, really good extempers to advance,” Gray said. “I am looking forward to getting to hang out with the team, though, because that was something that we missed out on. Getting to travel, I get to try new things and explore with this group of people;so, it is something I’m really happy about.”

Typically, upperclassmen guide the underclassmen and first-year debaters on how in-person and national competitions work. Because of the break from in-person competitions, seniors and juniors are also going through the learning processes. 

“We’re all learning at the same time; so, the levels kind of disappear; we’re no longer the varsity kids, we are on the same footing as everyone else,” Gray said. “We do know how to practice for nationals; so, we still have leadership roles for that, but I think that it is cool that we all get to learn at the same time — we’re on the same level.”

Though they are still learning, the upperclassmen have more experience competing and have served as guides and teachers for the underclassmen throughout the year — something that Bray thinks has been helpful.

“They are all really friendly, and whenever I have a question, they will immediately answer it,” Bray said.  “In the beginning, they were really good at getting me and my friends introduced to it and showing us how everything would work.”

The team has just started to prepare for nationals, and Herrera is confident in the team’s ability. 

“It should go well; I don’t know how big it is going to be this year, there are so many unknowns, but we have done well all year,” Herrera said. “I don’t think there has been a year in the past 13-14 years where we haven’t had someone advance at nationals; so I expect us to advance at least someone.”