He said, she said

JOEL DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

The ancient Greeks and a growing group of Mat-Su middle schoolers share a common bond - they both love to argue. Armed with historical facts and sharpened rhetoric, middle school students are planning to brandish their argumentative skills later this month for what organizers hope will be the first ever district-wide middle school debate showdown.

Grant Olson, an English teacher at Palmer Junior Middle School, hopes to turn a once-sporadic and disconnected debate scene into an annual interschool competition.

Ultimately, Olson said he'd like to see the argumentative juices work their way back into local high schools to revive a now nonexistent debate scene at the high school level.

Up until this year, Olson said middle school speech competitions between schools were unpredictable and it was largely unknown as to whether there would even be teams from year to year. This year, however, Wasilla, Teeland, Colony, Palmer and Houston middle schools have all participated in interschool speech competitions.

On April 26, Olson is expecting a strong turnout for the third and final event this year.

Olson said debate adds a level of excitement that is unmatched in many other academic programs.

&#8220I'm a real proponent for having students get up and think on their feet,” he said last week. &#8220They have to think considerably deeper than just preparing a paper because they are arguing.”

Debate teams faded from the Mat-Su high school scene about six years ago, due to personnel changes at several schools, which resulted in an inability to find coaches willing to put in the hours to prepare a team.

Steve Byrd currently teaches English, drama and speech at Colony High School, where he once spearheaded a thriving speech and debate scene. In 2000, he was forced to miss more than a month of school due to illness and the team never recovered.

&#8220I went into drama and never went back to the speech team,” Byrd explained. &#8220It's pretty typical, when one person goes away from it, then no one else picks it up. Now there is no one coaching.”

In the early 1990s, Colony's team traveled around Alaska, participating in invitational and statewide events. They also traveled twice to San Antonio, Texas, for large competitions there.

With his current commitment to drama, however, Byrd said the workload is just too much to coach a speech and debate team.

&#8220Our principal supports the idea, we just don't have anyone to do it,” he said, while adding that he thought debate does enhance a student's academic career. &#8220Debate training is a training in critical thinking and expression. It's one of the most academically challenging things available.”

During Colony's heyday, Byrd coached 20 to 30 teams in a whole gamut of speech styles.

&#8220The kids were totally committed to it,” he said. &#8220They loved it.”

Dewayne Joehnk is another former high school debate coach who now teaches drama and gifted and talented students at Wasilla High School.

Joehnk coached his last speech and debate team at Wasilla in 1997, but hopes to revive the program in the next year or two as middle school debaters arrive on the high school scene.

&#8220Because of the middle school kids being interested in it, the number of kids at high school are also getting interested,” he said.

&#8220We will be starting a debate and forensics program here next year or the year after,” he said.

Joehnk echoed Byrd's concern, however, about finding the time to coach the teams, while still managing his other duties.

&#8220Unfortunately, with budget realities I'm already splitting my time between the gifted and talented program and drama,” he said. &#8220I'd still like to get a debate team off the ground next year.”

Annie Bill is doing her part to flood the high school ranks with young debaters. Bill teaches math and gifted and talented students at Colony Middle School.

This year, Bill is also tackling her first assignment as a speech and debate coach at CMS.

As of last week, Bill said she's already had 25 to 30 kids express interest and expects many more after she meets with more students and teachers.

This year's middle school debaters will argue the issue of whether the federal government should establish a comprehensive program of mandatory national service by all U.S. citizens.

Students will have to prepare both sides of the argument and won't know which side they must take until moments before the debate begins.

&#8220It's a challenge for them because you have to respond to someone else's opposite opinion in an impromptu manner,” she said.

&#8220But it's competitive and the kids just eat it up,” she added.

Contact Joel Davidson at

352-2266 or joel.davidson@

frontiersman.com.