{"id":929,"date":"2024-12-19T16:55:39","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T16:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/?p=929"},"modified":"2024-12-19T16:55:39","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T16:55:39","slug":"pellissippi-state-debate-team-wins-championship-hosts-state-later-this-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/policies.pstcc.edu\/?p=929","title":{"rendered":"Pellissippi State Debate Team wins championship, hosts state later this month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pellissippi State\u2019s debate team celebrates their recent wins in the Bill Haslam Center for Math and Science. From left are Coach Shaq Marsh, Charles Wilhite, Abigail Burdine, Angela Wilhite, Anika Schultz,<\/strong> team president Dylan Bass, Jake Porteous, Vic Rutherford<\/strong> and Coach Jesse Cragwall<\/strong>. Not pictured are Sadal Ali, Tristan Hamilton<\/strong> and Wesley Reagan<\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite never having competed in a tournament, the nine members of Pellissippi State Community College\u2019s debate team \u2013 and one fellow student who filled an open spot on the team at the last minute \u2013 brought home the championship trophy at the Tennessee Valley Invitational Tournament. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team, coached by Assistant Professor Shaq Marsh<\/strong> and Instructor Jesse Cragwall<\/strong>, racked up 11 awards at the Feb. 26 event held on the college\u2019s Hardin Valley Campus. Pellissippi State\u2019s students competed against teams from Cleveland State Community College, Tusculum University and Walters State Community College. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was not surprised the team did so well in their first competition because they’ve shown incredible commitment since day one,” Marsh said, noting this is the third consecutive time Pellissippi State\u2019s debate team has won a tournament it hosted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-person team of Dylan Bass<\/strong> and Anika Schultz<\/strong> won the tournament, bringing home Pellissippi State\u2019s 7th championship in school history and extending the team\u2019s winning streak to 20 consecutive tournaments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve watched debates on YouTube, but that\u2019s the equivalent of backyard wrestling,\u201d said Bass, who was named president of the team and quit his job as a DoorDash driver to prepare. \u201cIt was very nerve wracking in the beginning \u2013 mainly the public speaking for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Schultz, who loves public speaking, her fears centered on the research teams must do before debating their opponents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou only have 15 minutes to prepare your argument, so I was afraid we wouldn\u2019t find enough sources,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Debate<\/a>
The two-person team of Anika Schultz<\/strong> and Dylan Bass<\/strong> won the Tennessee Valley Invitational Tournament,<\/span>\u00a0bringing home Pellissippi State\u2019s 7th championship in school history and extending the team\u2019s winning streak to 20 consecutive tournaments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

She needn\u2019t have worried, as the Pellissippi State students rallied around to help each other research the topics they\u2019d been randomly assigned, including \u201cThe U.S. should remain neutral in the matter of Ukraine to avoid World War III\u201d and \u201cThe game Wordle is a fad.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKeeping up with the news is important,\u201d Bass said. \u201cWe all had a feeling Ukraine would be brought up, and it was.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a tournament, two-person teams are assigned a topic and a position to argue, either in the affirmative or the negative. The teams have 15 minutes to research and formulate their arguments, and then individuals on the teams take turns debating their points and counterpoints in a 40-minute round. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really about persuasion,\u201d Cragwall said. \u201cThe harder part is to be in the negative, and our championship team was in the negative.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students have no choice about whether to argue for or against a topic, regardless of how they feel about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have to go into the debate leaving your own opinions aside,\u201d Schultz said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bass agreed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that, as Dr. Marsh has taught us, you are attacking the arguments, not the topic itself,\u201d he said. \u201cStill, you will often get assigned topics you would have never thought to have an opinion on!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pellissippi State\u2019s debate team paired off into twos to compete: Bass and Schultz, Sadal Ali<\/strong> and Jake Porteous<\/strong>, Abigail Burdine <\/strong>and Tristan Hamilton<\/strong>, Wesley Reagan <\/strong>and Vic Rutherford<\/strong>, and Angela <\/strong>and Charles Wilhite<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teams and the individual members of the teams receive scores from the judges. Pellissippi State students who won speaking awards in the Novice division include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n