Southern Lehigh is home to a wide offering of clubs, and most students are able to find at least one club that hones in on their specific interests or strengths. One of the clubs that attracts many students year after year is the speech and debate team.

The Southern Lehigh team has been guided by Mr. David Long for 21 years. He was drawn to the coaching aspect because of his prior experience as a member on his high school’s team.  He encourages students to participate in the club because public speaking is a skill that will be used for a lifetime.

“Public speaking is probably one of, if not the most important, skills any student can learn to do,” Mr. Long said. “Even in your everyday job you will have to speak in front of people. It can be customer service or just asking your boss for a raise. You need to know how to speak confidently and make a good argument.”

Assisting Mr. Long in coaching the team are overall captain Natalie Costa and her co-captain, Erin Howe.  Together, they have lead the team of 25 students to successful advancements in many of their regional and non-regional tournaments.

The group practices day in and day out, and they place and perform at highly competitive events.

“The team has award winners at almost every tournament we’ve gone to,” Mr. Long said, “including some of the best tournaments in the country such as Princeton and Harvard.”

This year, at the state level competition, captain Natalie Costa, a member for four years, made it to states and was a semifinalist in her event. Three freshmen were able to make it into states as well.

The speech and debate team looks forward to many more tournaments they have yet to compete in, including the Spartan Invitational here at Southern Lehigh, and nationals, which is being held in Birmingham, Alabama, this coming June. Students in all grade levels will be representing the Southern Lehigh speech and debate team in June, and all the hard work they have been putting will most certainly pay off.