A respectful argument

Their teacher called her students’ debate preparation the most intense work they’ve done all year, spending hours on research. Those students take the stage for 45 to 60 minutes at a time, five times over the course of a competition day.

If they mess up, the other team can pounce and capitalize. On top of it all, this is the first year Creston High School has ever tried this.

Despite the odds, Creston’s first debate teams succeeded during their first competition in December and are now headed today and tomorrow to Ankeny for the state debate competitions at Des Moines Area Community College.

The two teams, comprised of pair Mahi Patel and Chaylee Needham on one and Carson Beer and Malachi Webber on the other, are all seniors leading the charge for the debut Panther debate team. Early success has already found them; Both teams tied for third place at their first public forum debate tournament at CAM High School. (Patel and Needham won the bronze by 0.7 speaker points.)

Debate at Creston is led by speech and drama coach Laura Granger. Students who take Granger’s advanced speech course had the opportunity this year to turn one unit of the course into a chance to compete.

Granger has contemplated creating Creston’s debate team for at least a couple years, but 2025 offered the chance to step foot into new territory with the encouragement of four eager students.

Debate, described by Patel as “respectful arguing,” is a competitive persuasive discussion where teams present opposing sides of a controversial topic. While teams will come prepared for whichever side (pro or con) a coin flip chooses, the discussion will often extend to places neither team can foresee.

“So much of debate kids have to come up with on the fly,” Granger said. “It’s rigorous, and our kids are already so dedicated.”

For the students, managing tone and emotions as they present their arguments can be a challenge, especially with the nerves of competition. For topics which can sometimes be tough to discuss, tempering how they’re presenting becomes an essential skill.

“You have to be constantly respectful of your opponents, but you also have to argue and make your point seem better,” Patel said.

“You’re not trying to be correct necessarily,” Beer said. “It’s a debate with facts, but it’s still rooted in opinion. You have all these statistics and resources that you’re using, but you’re placing different importance.”

At each competition, debate teams have to prepare to discuss a certain topic. For their first competition, students prepared to discuss the pros and cons of governments having access to encrypted communications. Teams have to be prepared for both sides of the topic, even if they personally disagree.

“I try to remove as much bias as I can whenever I’m making my constructives,” Patel said. “Even if it’s something I don’t really agree with but it’s a good source of information, I’m going to put that information in. It’s all about keeping that bias away. You have to consider both sides; that’s the beauty of debate.”

For the state competition this weekend, teams have been preparing to discuss The People’s Republic of China’s reduced extraction of natural resources. It’s quite a challenging topic for high school students, but it hasn’t discouraged them.

“I didn’t know about the Chinese mining operations,” Patel said. “I knew what they were, but getting in to the nitty gritty, it really broadens your perspectives when researching both sides.”

Debate relies on students presenting their perspectives effectively, which combines well with students who have experience in other speech and drama activities. However, two key differences set debate apart.

The first is the more spontaneous style of speaking. While opening arguments, called constructives, are often scripted, everything after is dedicated to expanding and defending arguments in multiple crossfire and rebuttal sections.

Beer and Webber use sticky notes to communicate while their opponents are speaking to refine their arguments when it’s their turn to present. This scramble is daunting for students, but it’s part of the appeal.

Patel viewed this style of speaking as a representation of the serious side of performing, which inspired her to join debate. The competitive appeal was something new, and helped appeal to other students.

The second difference comes from an individual standpoint. Unlike theater and other forms of speech, where rehearsed lines and character work become a focus, the speech in debate comes entirely as a presentation of the student.

Beer described debate as “ingrained in what you are,” similar to his experiences with music. While Beer has always viewed performances in theater as playing a character, debate is entirely dependent on him.

“I’m talking, you know? It’s just me,” Beer said. “If I say something dumb, that’s on me. It wasn’t written for me; I said it.”

The quirks of debate also offer a chance for students to explore speech in a way which will appeal to them where the performances of theater can’t. Beer said this is exemplified in his partner, Webber, who avoided the stage in theater but jumped whole-heartedly into debate.

“Malachi does theater stuff, but he’s the backstage guy,” Beer said. “He’s not the actor. Malachi is the great example where, even if you’re not an acting guy or not animated or not the biggest theatrical person out there, debate is for you also.”

With the debate team comprised of all seniors, the chance for the team to continue into future years is up in the air. Yet, both Beer and Patel were in strong support of the future of the program.

“I would love to see this keep going,” Beer said. “I hope it doesn’t die here.”

Granger hopes her seniors can take away a sense of pride from their hard work. Pushing forward the debate team for the first time and still coming out the other side with plenty of success is rewarding for both student and instructor.

“They can do hard things; they can work hard and give an amazing performance,” Granger said.