Kennedy’s Speech and Debate team qualified two students for the national competition, junior Divya Ramadugu and senior Tori Paga. The national tournament will be held from June 15-20 during the summer of 2025.

Speech and Debate is a club where students will talk about topics ranging from politics to philosophical questions. In the speech portion, students will write a speech that will persuade or influence how people think. The debate portion is where a student or group of students will try to convince a judge that their side is right or more valid.

“There are many different events that you can participate in that debate a variety of topics,” Ramadugu said.  “Our school mainly competes in public forum, extemporaneous speaking and congressional debate. The topic changes every month in a public forum.” 

Recently, the team has been struggling financially and is having trouble with funding their members and the competitions. They have also had trouble getting new members and keeping old ones since the start of Covid-19.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have much funding so most of our expenses are paid out of pocket,” Ramadugu said. “We also have had trouble rebuilding the team after COVID.”

Ramadugu has been a part of the school’s speech and debate team since she was a freshman and is currently the club’s captain. This year is her third year qualifying for the National Tournament. 

“It’s been great,” Ramadugu said. “We’ve had more people join the team and participate in tournaments all around Iowa this year.”