Congress members give oath to support the U.S. Constitution
The UIL Congress team members have authored a variety of pieces of legislation that will be presented at their region meet on Monday, Nov. 10.
“This year is certainly a building year for the team,” Congress debate coach Carol Cox said. “Our team only consists of two freshmen and one sophomore, but I am excited to see how this group performs.”
Sophomore Adelyn Winter submitted several pieces of legislation, three of which were accepted for debate and are being prepared for discussion and deliberation during the region meet.
“When I found out three of my pieces were accepted as legislation, I was pretty excited,” Winter said. “That means I get to prepare three speeches for the debate.”
When a student’s authored legislation gets accepted, he or she has more opportunities to speak and get recognized by the judges as their debates progress.
“Winter had authored and submitted several pieces of legislation. The more pieces accepted, the better chance she has to do well,” Congress debate coach Leslie Graham said. “There is still a lot of work to be done and many things to figure out.”
As newcomers, the freshmen are receiving guidance from their coaches. Freshman Heather Schroeder shared how the coaches have assisted her with her speeches.
“UIL Congress really stuck out to me because I argue a lot with everyone every day,” Schroeder said. “The debate coaches work with us a lot by correcting our speeches. They make sure what I am arguing about does not come off incorrectly.”
Freshman Kynleigh Schroeder is also new to Congress this year; she expressed how the coaches have helped her find and develop her debating voice.
“They taught me how to correctly format my bills and have helped me use my voice effectively during debates,” Kynleigh Schroeder said. “I feel like we could definitely go really far as a team of debaters when going against other schools.”
Heather Schroeder expressed her confidence about the season and her abilities while debating.
“Well, I am already a good debater. I debate with everyone around me daily,” she said, “However, with time, I think I will become even better.”
