The CCHS Speech and Debate team is one of the best in the nation.

The Tiger Talkers Speech and Debate team has a long and illustrious history. The team was established in 1977 by Pauline Carochi. Since that time, the team has sent dozens of  students to nationals, has had 11 state champions, has earned 200 Club (top 5% in the nation!) honors five times, and has served over 1,000 students. We have also had two national champions!!  See the awards button of this web site for more info about all the awards that the Tiger Talkers have amassed.

The team opens its season the first week of school with practice to prepare for the first meet of October. October is the novice season. Only students who have never competed before compete. The Varsity team members judge those meets.  The varsity season opens in November and runs through April.  Then in June we attend the National Forensic League National Tournament.  In 2006 that meet will be held in Dallas, Texas.  In 2007 it’s in Whiticha, Kansas, and in 2008 it will be held in Las Vegas Nevada.  Below is the schedule for the 2005-2006 school year.  

Tiger Talker Tournament Schedule:

Place                             Date

Sierra Novice                        10-15

Widefield Novice                  10-29

Mesa Ridge Congress         10-31

Pueblo Centennial                 11-5

Sierra Varsity                        11-12

Air Academy Congress         11-15

Liberty                                   11-19

Wasson                                  12-3

NFL Rules- Cheyenne Mt.   12-10

Lakewood                                 1- 6 & 7

Mullen H.S.                               1- 13 & 14

LaJunta                                      1-21

Pueblo West                               1-28

Canon City Classic                     2- 3 & 4

CHSAA Regionals to qualify

for state Pueblo East                   2-17 & 18

NFL Congress @ Pueblo West    3-3 & 4

State Tourney @ Arvada H.S.     3-17 & 18

NFL National Qualifying

at Air Academy H.S.                     3-31 & 4-1

Nationals – Dallas, Texas            6-17 thru 6-23

The Team:

• For the past decade we have had 50 to 60 students per year compete per year.  Please refer to the awards segment of this web site to see how successful we are!  Students are encouraged to join us even if they are athletes and can compete only once in a while.  Even some speech experience changes the future of a teen by making him/her a confident public speaker!

Coaches’ Philosophy:

• Winning is nice, and we do more than our share. However, improvement is much more important. The only two questions student hear from us after a meet are 1) What did you learn? 2) Did you have a good time?

Who Can Join:

• Any student who can attend one practice a week and who can attend at least two meets is welcome. The team has freshman through seniors.  

What Kinds of Competitive Events May I Choose From?

• The interpretative events are drama, humor, duo and poetry.  The students who like to act do these events. Students create a 10 minute cutting from a work of literature, from a play, from a magazine or from a script of a TV show. The source must be printed and published, not off of the net. Students play ALL of the characters and act it out complete with voices.
• The debate events are cross examination debate, public forum debate and Lincoln Douglas debate.  Cross examination debate is a policy debate where the student has a partner and debates the same resolution for an entire year. The 05-06 topic is  Resolved: the United States federal government should substantially decrease its authority either to detain without charge or to search without probable cause.  This debate is very time consuming. Students who are good attend a summer debate camp.  Lincoln Douglas debate is a value debate and the student debates alone, without a partner.  He/she learns a great deal about the philosophers. The topic changes four times a year. The current debate topic is    Resolved: Judicial activism is necessary to protect the rights of American citizens.   The newest type of debate is Public Forum debate. Resolutions are of all types and it is a man on the street debate. The topics are always current events. The debater does have a partner and the resolution changes monthly. The current topic is Resolved: that the United States federal government should fund Hurricane Katrina relief and rebuilding by ending President Bush’s tax cuts.   All three of these types of debate teach research, thinking on your feet, being open-minded and logic.  Debate is excellent college prep learning!
• Public Speaking events-  These are International extemporaneous speaking, United States extemporaneous speaking, and Original Oratory.  Extemp is my personal favorite. In fact I was a high school state champion in extemp.  For both types of extemp students become experts on current events. At a meet they draw three topic questions from an envelop and then are allowed 30 minutes of preparation time to come up with a researched answer to that question that is a 5 to 7 minute speech.  For example, a U.S. extemper may get the topic:  What should Congress do to save Social Security?  An International extemper may get the topic How will President Chavez’s anti-American attitude impact his relations with the United States?  These two events teach organization, an understanding of the world, current events, thinking on your feet, and polished public speaking.  Original Oratory is for the writer.  The student selects a topic that he/she is passionate about, usually problem solution and develops it in a creative way. The speech is 10 minutes in length and can not have more than 150 quoted words.  This is a great creative writing outlet and lets the student combine writing with acting as he/she performs the speech.
• Congress- This event is available about seven times a year.  It is real world because the students write bills and resolutions and then become senators and representatives and debate the pros and cons of those pieces of legislation, working to convince their fellow legislators to pass or to defeat the bills. All students on the team do Congress.

Students SELECT what they want to compete in.  If a student tries an event and doesn’t like it, he may elect to move to a different event.  

Speech & Debate is my passion.  I have been coaching for 29 years and have hundreds of testimonials about how competing changed students’ lives.  Parents, please encourage your child to join us.  Students, please encourage your friends to join us!

 We talk the talk and walk the walk!