Northwest has had some great victories lately, with the Bear Buddies going undefeated in soccer and girls volleyball making it to state, but one team’s victories often go unnoticed. The Northwest debate team is about half and half in victories in five different tournaments and individuals have medaled at five of those tournaments.

To be on a debate team you must sign up for a debate class with debate teacher Shawn Wingfield and you must also compete in out-of-school tournaments. The team members prepare for the debates in class and then compete against other schools at the tournaments.

“Students compete with a partner supporting or negating the debate resolutions which this year deals with transportation infrastructure, or how to fix our roads and bridges and highways, and we compete against other schools on how best to do that,” Wingfield said.

The topic for debate changes every year, so students like junior Amber Davis, who have been in debate for a while have been able to research and debate various topics.

“I think debate is really helpful because it helps me develop research skills and helps me see both sides of the story when most high schoolers just see one,” Davis said.

While Davis is in her third year of debate, others on the first year novice level compete as well. Students such as freshman Chris Damato has also been competing and says he has really enjoyed it so far.

“It’s fun once you start to debate, and the more you get into it the more you want to compete. I plan on continuing to do debate as long as I can,” Damato said.

The season is not over for the debaters, for more news on how the team does in future tournaments listen to the morning announcements or stop by Wingfield’s classroom.