An Interview: Stephanie Owen, Widefield High School

Hear our interview with Stephanie Owen of Widefield High School, one of our school partners in Colorado Springs, Colorado!

c/o Stephanie Owen

Tell us about your school and its team.
Our team has a core group of about 13 students, but we have had another 10 or so register to join last year. We also have two forensics classes during the school day with about 40 students total between them. We can usually get those students to join our team, but once the semester is over, they tend to drop off. All in all, you can find up to 60 students debating at Widefield High School.

Which events do you participate in?
Dramatic Interpretation (DI), Duo Interpretation (DUO), Humorous Interpretation (HI), Poetry (POE), Program Oral Interpretation (POI), Storytelling (STO), Impromptu (IMP), Informative Speaking (INF), International Extemporaneous Speaking (IX), Original Oratory (OO), Original Spoken Word Poetry (SW), Pro Con Challenge (PCC), United States Extemporaneous Speaking (USX), Big Questions (BQ), Congressional Debate (House & Senate) (CON), Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD), Public Forum Debate (PF), World Schools Debate (WS)

How could additional funding help your school?
We need resources to keep students engaged and invested in forensics. We are also in a poorer school district where most of our elementary schools qualify for Title 1 federal funding.

What specifically would your team use additional funding for?
With additional funding, we will use the money for National Speech & Debate Association student memberships, team shirts for comraderie and student retention, travel to further tournaments to increase student exposure to different competitions, and team activities such as pizza and practice to increase club participation.