Los Al’s take on the art of speech and debate

The wrap-up for the Los Al Debate Team begins as the school year comes to an end

Students enjoy their donuts on an average Wednesday at the club.

Adalie Landa, Editor
April 25, 2023

LOS ALAMITOS, CA — Los Alamitos High School’s clubs wrap up the 2022-2023 school year with final meetings and end-of-the-year parties. Set your eyes on the Los Al Debate Team club’s end-of-the-year party following AP exams!

The Los Al Debate team club hosted on campus helps students develop communication and critical thinking skills that will be useful for society outside of school. Refining these qualities in this club shows that relationships between students prove beneficial in networking as well as in self-confidence per individual.

Sophomore club member Kaitlyn Mady expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the debate team club through an interview with Griffin Gazette. She explained that the bonds developed through taking part in speech exercises have helped her understand different sides that would be difficult to obtain in the average academic class here on Los Al’s campus.

Los Al Debate Team’s club leader, Dana Kim, a junior, states her intentions of hosting these practices in clubs.

“I hope students have fun improving skills that are essential no matter what you do in life,” Kim said. “From researching to impromptu speaking, I hope that the activities inspire students to become confident versions of themselves.”

Having recently hosted a club meeting on Wednesday, April 19, Kim mentioned discussion topics from past meetings.

“We focus on more engaging, interesting topics,” Kim wrote in an email. “In fact, last semester, we discussed if it was valid or not that Will Smith punched Chris Rock at the Oscars.”

The students of the Los Al Debate Team also take the opportunity of these meetings to prepare for tournaments. Mady recalls a tournament she attended.

“Last year, two other students [and I] qualified for Nationals by placing top three in SoCal,” Mady wrote in an interview. “We got to travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the tournament!”

This year, a Los Al Debate Team member is attending the State Championship tournament near San Diego the last weekend of April.

Students competed at the Southern California District Tournament in March 2023. (@lahsdebateteam via Instagram)

With a powerful speech, Mady leaves a message for any Los Al student interested in joining the club next year.

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For future students, I cannot stress the values of debate enough. The combination of people skills, critical thinking, and conflict management which is taught in debate is absolutely unparalleled. You may think that all this is debatable, but I promise you there’s no better feeling in the world than walking away from a round with a win.