After very successful careers in Argyle Debate, seven seniors, Caleb Leonard, Addison High, Grant Parris, Bryce Majerczyk, Cole Tisdale, Bhuvana Davaluri, and Sumia Thomas, gave their last argument from behind the podium. Throughout their debate careers, they have created a legacy of prestige for Argyle Debate among state competitors and left a major impression on their coach Jessica Reynolds, and fellow classmates.
“When I got here we had never had anybody medal at the state meet, and so now we have had people medal at every UIL event at the state meet,” Reynolds said.
Leonard has been participating in debate for all four years of his high school career as High and Parris joined their sophomore years and have been debate partners for two years. Throughout their careers, they have competed in a diverse range of debate events, such as congressional debate, cross-examination debate, and poetry interpretation. As they have debated in their respective events they have risen to the state debate competition multiple times, winning awards and praise.
“[Leonard and I] work together really well, we get along together really well, we have a good rapport,” Reynolds said. “He’s really funny, he’s fun to work with, he’s a joy to coach and he’s really easy to coach.”
Leonard has always had a natural skill for public speaking, as he has been a part of Argyle Theatre all four years of high school and is going to college to major in Musical Theatre. Joining Argyle Debate was another way for Leonard to exercise this unique skill in a new and challenging environment.
“I definitely had to teach him a lot about politics, and how our U.S. government works so he’s had to learn a lot of that,” Reynolds said. “Just making him more well-rounded rather and less performance-based and pushing him more into the debate sphere, I definitely had to do a lot of that.”
Even with Leonard’s strong skill for public speaking, it wasn’t able to single-handedly carry him over the finish line in his debates. Debate is based on facts and how one can use these facts to manipulate them into a persuasive argument. Some topics are big-picture and can be very complex. Having background knowledge such as understanding how our government systems operate, or the arguments on both sides of policies can help a debater understand how they should structure their argument. Learning this background knowledge though requires time, and a lot of it.
“The most challenging part is the prep for sure,” Leonard said. “Staying up till two a.m. a lot of nights to debate is not always the most fun thing in the world.”
Argyle Debate is not for the faint of heart. Throughout their high school years, these students have spent countless hours researching facts, perspectives, and arguments over an array of topics and policies. This research is worth it in the end though as it provides these debaters with an impenetrable foundation allowing them to come out undefeated in their competitions. But as their senior year comes to an end, so does their remarkable debate careers.
“Thanks, Argyle High School, and to the people around me,” Leonard said. “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to become successful and to join that program, for having a supportive team around me and a supportive community of people within our school to help build everyone up so they can be successful.”
Argyle Debate is more than just a place to learn about real-world issues and debate different perspectives of the argument, and it has left these seniors with more than just communication skills. It has allowed them to discover how complex our world is, have the skills to overcome challenges, find solutions, and have the ability to relate and be empathetic to others’ situations.
“I would say be open to new things, be open to new challenges and try new things, and if it scares you to try it, don’t let it scare you away from that,” Reynolds said.
