Polson speaker, debaters claim No. 1 at state
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Three Polson High School students won State titles at the Class A Speech Debate and Drama Meet held in Polson Jan. 27 and 28.
Kelsey Koberg and Sharidan Russell earned their medals in Policy Debate, and Megan Pope took home the Extemporaneous Speaking first-place medal.
Koberg and Pope are seniors, so this was their last high school speech season, but Russell is a sophomore and has two more years to compete.
After competing in Policy Debate for three years, Koberg said she liked the event because it’s different every time. As a sophomore, Koberg competed in drama, but found she enjoyed Policy Debate more.
“How you do reflects how hard you work,” she explained, since research prior to the meet and speaking skills add some control for the speaker.
Koberg and Russell have been partners for only half of the season, and the topic they researched and debated was: “Resolved: the United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.”
Crediting Koberg with mentoring her and giving her tips, Russell said, “Kelsey recruited me. She and I had a lot of good chemistry.”
Another PHS team guaranteed both teams could practice each week before meets.
“I enjoy policy debate,” Russell said, “It’s evidence-based, and you have to have facts to back it up.”
Pope competed in Extemporaneous Speaking and double-entered in Impromptu Speaking, which meant she was rushing from event to event.
Participants shorten the title to “Extemp.” In the event each student draws a topic about national or international news and has 30 minutes to prepare a seven-minute speech answering his or her question and citing sources.
“Extemp is an adrenaline rush of never knowing what you are going to speak on. You have to rely on prior knowledge and prior work,” Pope said.
“The Economist” and “The Christian Science Monitor” are a couple of her favorite sources although questions also can be taken from “Newsweek” and “Time.”
At the State meet, Pope finished third in Impromptu Speaking as well as her Extemp win.
All the girls commented on the long speech season, which runs from October until the end of January and includes practice and research after school. Speech meet days, almost every Saturday, are rigorous, too, beginning with boarding the bus early, about 3:30 a.m. for the trip to Libby.
“You can’t just go out and play your game,” Pope explained, since every competitor gives four or five speeches at the meet.
Now that the speech season has ended, Koberg will focus on the Bill of Rights state competition, spring music festivals and Business Professionals of America.
Pope also is involved in BPA and Bill of Rights, and she and Russell are both cast in the PHS production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” directed by Karen and Neal Lewing.
After graduation Pope plans to attend the University of Montana, majoring in English and psychology and would like to go on to Oxford for a law degree. Eventually she would like to get involved in politics or be a judge.
The Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho is where Koberg is heading, and she plans to double major in communication and business administration. Then she would like to win the Marshall Scholarship and go to the United Kingdom for two years.
For college Russell has her sights sets on Emerson College in Boston, Mass., and plans to pursue an English and theatre education degree.
She would like to teach English in another country. She visited Palestine this summer, loves Bethlehem and would like to teach there.
“I just really enjoy travel and going to exciting new places,” Russell mused.
