Jefferson High School Speech and debate coach Anne Jolliff has a young team and that’s all right with her.
Jolliff specifically asked for the freshman honors English class so she could grow her team, which this year has 10 participants, up from four last year when the activity was restarted after being dormant for several years.
Of those 10, half are freshmen and half are sophomores.
And due to COVID-19 delaying the start of practice, as well as making all tournaments virtual, Jolliff describes this year as “a really fast and furious season.”
Having to compete entirely online was a bit disappointing, but Jolliff said the students are adapting well with the new rules and format. Each participant, either individual or pair, competes in a separate classroom at the school so as not to interfere with the others, said Jolliff.
And because the team is young, sophomore Kennedy Williams was the only team member at the meet Saturday who remembered what it was like to compete the old-fashioned way by being physically in the same room with the judges.
Williams said that not having to be physically present does take some of the pressure off and “makes you more confident.” Plus, you get to sit more this way, she said.
On the flip side, with the virtual format, the judges can come from anywhere and so far, has included a student from Harvard, as well as doctors and lawyers.
“It’s crazy who is coming to judge,” said Jolliff. The virtual meets are held through the platform provided by the National Speech and Debate Association.
Typically, schools rely on local judges, who get fed in return.
“We’re not dealing with the average Montanan coming for food,” joked Williams. At Saturday’s meet, hosted virtually by Choteau, team members looked up the judges online before the competition. Some team members seemed a bit awed by those who headed their own companies or attended well-known schools in other parts of the country.
This year, JHS will be competing against four other teams the entire regular season. But because of the virtual format, the JHS students do not know what school they are competing against because that doesn’t show up on the screen. As a result, her students have to learn to recognize their competitors online. Jolliff said she is teaching them to pay attention to the “weird little nuances” that the rival participants exhibit during the virtual event as a way to gain some insight into how they may perform.
On Saturday, the team competed in its third meet, after having recently placed third in the Red Lodge meet.
In the Red Lodge meet, sophomores Quinne Shultz and Katie Conroy placed first in Public Forum Debate and freshman Laci Lemon made it to finals in Impromptu, finishing eighth out of 17 competitors overall.
The team competes in five areas — Public Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, Impromptu, Original Oratory and Drama.
For Public Policy, Williams and freshman Zach Anderson are considering this question: Should the United States federal government enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing and sentencing.
Public Policy debate involves the proposal of a plan by the affirmative team to enact a policy, while the negative team offers reasons to reject that proposal. Throughout the debate, students have the opportunity to cross-examine one another, according to the National Speech and Debate Association.
Although young, Jolliff said Williams and Anderson are holding their own, as debates can last up to two hours.
Williams said debating is probably the toughest category with the most pressure, but it also provides good training for the future.
For the Public Forum category, Shultz and Conroy are currently focused on this topic: Should the United States adopt a declaratory nuclear policy of no first use — that is, should the U.S. not be the first to launch the bomb.
This topic will change in January to: Should the federal National Security Agency end its surveillance of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents. Like Public Policy Debate, competitors in this category formulate arguments on both sides.
During the Red Lodge competition where Shultz and Conroy took first place, the JHS students were familiar with the other schools’ teams, so that helped, said Jolliff.
JHS has three students competing in Impromptu, and all are freshmen: Laci Lemons, Jack Johnson and Luke Mondloch.
With Impromptu, students get the topic at the meet and have three minutes to formulate their speech and three minutes to deliver it.
During the Red Lodge finals, the topic was, “what came first, the chicken or the egg.”
It’s true, that was the topic, said Jolliff.
The material for the speeches can be pulled from inspirational quotes and famous speeches, political cartoons, pieces of art and other sources.
For her speech during the final round, Lemons took the chicken and egg question and turned it into a discussion on perception. She placed eighth in finals, with 17 in the entire competition.
This was her second meet ever, said Jolliff.
Lemons said she likes Impromptu because it gives her a chance to brainstorm and offer an opinion. When it came to chickens and eggs, Lemons said it could be argued that the chicken was first due to a sort of big bang theory, or the egg was first due to evolution — or, then again, what if they appeared at the same time?
“There’s no correct answer,” she said.
Sophomore Mason Lucas is the only student tackling the Original Oratory category. His speech is on the separation of church and state. Speeches in this category can be up to 10 minutes, and Lucas’ is currently at three minutes, said Jolliff.
Speeches are delivered from memory.
Lucas will keep the same speech and topic throughout the season, although he can tweek it and make small changes along the way. Jolliff said there are more points for longer speeches.
Lucas said the inspiration for his speech came from what he perceives as the unfairness of having government-sanctioned prayer — mostly in the South. He got his start by reading the letter exchange between then newly-elected President Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury Baptist Association in 1801-1802, which both parties believed in upholding the strict separation of church and state.
Freshmen Madisyn Hassler and Aidyn Springfield round out the team in the Drama category. They picked “Hitting on Women” as their piece, and are making a mockery of the practice of hitting on anyone at a party. It lasts about 10 minutes. Originally, the pair had had a third male team member, but he dropped out, requiring them to rework their performance a bit.
“It will be kind of funny,” said Jolliff. Hassler and Springfield made it to the semi-finals during the Red Lodge meet. The pair can choose a new published work in January.
Jolliff said that because the team is young, they are learning to deal with the judge’s comments.
The judges give their performances a point value, as well as provide comments on how they can improve. However, “most of the time the judges point out their flaws,” said Jolliff.
That is hard to take, but her students are learning to take criticism.
In all, the team will compete in five regular season tournaments, which are followed by divisionals and then state at the end of January. In a normal year (without a pandemic) there would be nine regular meets, so Jolliff figures they didn’t lose too many.
And despite the hassles from COVID-19, there is an upside to the virtual format — no fear that the season or tournament will be canceled, said Jolliff.
The Jefferson High School speech and debate team finished fourth Dec. 19 at the Choteau tournament.
Individual results are as follows:
•Katie Conroy and Quinne Shultz: 1st in Public Forum Debate
•Kennedy Williams and Zach Anderson: 6th in Policy Debate
•Jack Johnson: 6th in Impromptu Speech
•Laci Lemons: 12th in Impromptu Speech
