By MARILYN BODE
This month the Fine Arts Boosters of Kingston High School’s spotlight is on Dante Miguel, a senior debate team co-captain and free style swimmer.
Miguel is up and out of the house at 4:45 a.m. each day for swimming practice. He is a freestyle swimmer on the Kingston High School team and for the Poulsbo Piranhas.
Debate team is also time consuming. The team meets just once a week so Miguel must practice on his own time. As co-captain with Andrea Johnson he assists and supports other team members when asked.
Debaters work hard all year researching, writing, practicing and critiquing as they prepare for competitions.
Miquel calls Debate a social sport where one meets cool new people and where you learn who you are. Each debater has unique views and they bring up different aspects after doing research on the topics in the legislative packets provided for the Debate Congress. In debate, Miguel considers the arguments of others as he visualizes his own outlook.
Debate teacher Dee MacKinnon is affectionately known as “Dee Mac” to the team.
“She is so nice, extremely supportive and really peppy,” Miguel said.
MacKinnon shares coaching and decision making with Lasica Crane, team coach and Miguel’s mom.
The team needs support from the community — both in donations and volunteer time. Already the team’s entire budget has been spent qualifying students for state competition.
Twenty four debaters are prepping for State. The University of Puget Sound will host two tournaments including the State Congress. State championships can be a big boost for students. According to the National Forensic League, “State and national winners have a 22 to 30 percent higher acceptance rate at top tier colleges…” Tournaments in Washington D.C., and Texas are in play for winners.
There are 12 categories of events. Miguel’s includes Extemporaneous Speaking which means he draws three questions, selects one and has 30 minutes to prepare a speech in response. His second event is Impromptu, in which he is given a choice of three topics and must come up with a speech about one of them on the spot.
Other events include Lincoln Douglas Debate where two people stand and discuss a given issue and call for resolution; Congressional Debate, where schools write legislation to be used in a mock legislative process; and Dramatic and Humorous Interpretation, a memorized 10-minute presentation of a story or poem.
Miguel says debate has thrust him into the real world and expanded his awareness of the world’s issues. He plans to major in physics and political science at a four-year college, and sees himself as a politician some day.
To learn more about supporting debate at Kingston High School, contact Coach Crane at lcrane@nkschools.org.
