Princeton High School debaters are dispelling the notion that debate is full of politically-informed students endlessly arguing with one another.

Panther Speech and Debate is a year-round program where students compete most weekends in both speech events and debate. The program is UIL-sanctioned and has 25 students.

PHS University Interscholastic League Coordinator and debate coach Heather Stringer says students synthesize information akin to researching a doctorate degree into contentions, or arguments. 

“Our strongest skills are thinking critically and quickly,” Stringer said. “Within their prep time, they have to construct their case stating why they are right but also come up with reasons why their opponent is wrong.”

Debaters in the program are busy year-round, competing in as many as 45 tournaments each year. While many of the tournaments are just to practice debating, students participate in 10 competitive tournaments each season, said Stringer.

Preparation for an upcoming season begins in June when novice debaters go to a weeklong debate intensive where students learn about argument structure and researching their cases. If a student is experienced with debate, the camp lasts an entire month, and they practice more refined debate strategies and practice running debate rounds.

Students involved in debate at PHS compete in one of three categories: Lincoln-Douglas debate, policy debate and U.S. Congress debate.