Westglades Middle School Student Secures 4th Place in National Debate – Parkland Talk

Two students from Westglades Middle School recently shined in Iowa at the National Speech and Debate Tournament, with one bringing home fourth place in the nation.

The competition, which took place in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 19 to 21, highlighted the top speech and debate enthusiasts nationwide, including WMS students Lindsay Rosaler and Jordyn Weiss.

The weekend was capped off by the exciting news that Weiss, an eighth-grader from Parkland, was awarded 4th place in Congressional Debate.

“Two of my 8th graders approached me about attending Nationals with their parents,” Brooke Pappas, the Speech and Debate coach at Westglades Middle School, tells Parkland Talk.

While she didn’t attend, she was incredibly proud to have her students compete in such a high-scale event. “This is the largest competition and internship that our students have competed in so far.”

Chatting with Parkland Talk about the experience of taking home a fourth-place award, Weiss shared that while rewarding, the competition was a lot of hard work.

“I competed in four preliminary rounds, one semi-final round, and one final round, each spanning three hours. That makes 18 hours of debate over three days,” adding, “While the competition was very lengthy, I enjoyed every minute of competing against such a high caliber of talent.

Weiss said the topics in the competition involved legislation, taxes, education reform, and foreign policy. While the competitions were the main objective, she’ll take the comradery and moments in between that drove her to do so well.

“One of my favorite parts of the competition was chatting with competitors outside the rounds and learning about their backgrounds and interests,” Weiss said, adding,” They pushed me to a new level, and I believe this makes nationals so beneficial for all 1,000 competitors. We push each other to be our best and have fun.”

Weiss also wanted to thank everyone involved in helping her achieve the notable 4th place award.

“I couldn’t have done it without my incredible support system. First, my incredible team at WMS allowed me to flourish this year in my debate career. Second, I want to thank my mom, dad, family, and friends for believing in me in all my endeavors.”

Looking ahead, Coach Brooke Pappas shares her vision for the Speech and Debate Club, which has remained active even during the Summer break.

“While our team is enjoying their summer vacation, we are all looking forward to another exciting school year,” Pappas said. “Many students are already prepping their material for next year. We plan to compete in our Broward tournaments. We also plan to bring a larger group to states and nationals next year.”

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