Kudos to the Lanier Middle School Debate team

The Houston Chronicle has an article about the success of the debate team from Houston's Lanier Middle School, a public school in the Houston Independent School District. Because one of my children is on the team, I traveled with them to the 2009 National Junior Forensics League competition and was a volunteer judge for a number of events.

The experience was really enjoyable for a number of reasons. The competitors in all the different events were accomplished speakers; a number of schools stood out with impressive performances from their various team members, and it was a treat to observe them as a judge or in the audience. The Lanier group was of course one of the impressive groups, strong in both the speech/interp and debate tracks; this breadth of expertise served them well and ensured their 7th straight first-place national ranking, for although other schools were also very good in one or the other area, none were as good in both.

The other compelling reason to go again next year was the behavior of the team itself. They exhibited a welcome camaraderie with each other; for example, members would attend performances of their teammates when they were not competing themselves. As far as I saw, they were always respectful of the judges and other competitors and schools, thanking the judges after every round and congratulating the other competitors in the round when appropriate. When together, they played games or shared impressions and notes, and recognized the strengths of the other competitors. I think it was a good experience for my child to be part of such a large and supportive team.

As the team's coach Mr. Hill pointed out in the press conference, their success was due to their own hard work, but also in large part to the contributions of the alumni who returned to mentor and challenge the team, the parents who support the students, the school who value the team and treat them as champions (not just geeks!), and of course the coach, without whose guidance the students would not improve as much as they do over the years they're on the team.