Ani Guillaume also contributed to the article
Through Speech and Debate tournaments such as the one that took place on October 18, 2025, students are able to argue various topics in competition with other schools.. Speech and Debate students and judges wake up as early as 4 to 5 AM to prepare themselves for the big day. They have completed weeks of preparatory work in class, practicing skills to be ready for the first novice tournament of the year.
One school Malden competed against was Sharon High School, a prestigious, highly ranked public high school located in Sharon, Massachusetts. “They seemed prepared and serious,” junior Wongel Yohannes remarked on her feelings towards the schools they would be competing against.
“I saw a bunch of the students, and they seemed like prodigies. They were very good at speech and debate,” junior Jason Dutaille noted.
Even with 42 competing schools in the tournament, Malden’s extremely diverse student body allowed it to stand out among the schools participating. For schools like MHS, it is important to go out and represent not only the school, but the city and the individual cultures within the team.
Speech and Debate teacher, Kurtis Scheer, additionally stated: “We should focus on these opportunities because the schools that go to these tournaments do not look like Malden High School. They are from wealthy suburbs and private elite schools. There is no Malden High School equivalent there.”
¨When we start to win, these other schools get nervous because they have gate-kept this opportunity. The more we go, the more we win. The more we participate, the better opportunities we will have,” Scheer continued.
A lot of students joined Speech and Debate from mutual recommendations. Some joined due to their friend or teacher recommending it, and some were introduced to the team as a club after school–but what kept students invested was Scheer’s exemplary teaching style, techniques, and overall personality.
“He’s a great guy. He’s part of the reason why I came back. I think he’s the reason why so many people came back,” Yohannes exclaimed.
Speech and Debate at Malden High began as a club with a few people and has turned into a class with tons of eager students hoping to grow their public speaking, researching, writing, and argumentative skills. Students report that the class has helped them in those exact areas, for example, Yohannes elaborated: “Something I want to do in the future is major in law. You need to be a good public speaker, be able to build strong arguments, and have evidence to support them. I feel like it really teaches me how to do that.”
In regard to Speech and Debate’s ability to improve speaking skills, sophomore JJ Scott stated, “I became more confident. I feel like when I’m confident speaking, it gives me confidence in other areas too.¨
Senior Leena Chawqui expressed a similar point of view. “It made me have more confidence in speaking, and it made me a better researcher too,” illustrating how Scheer encourages students to resort to their strong minds, and not towards physical actions in quarrels. He strongly conveys how he feels that “discussion and debate is so far from the norm in society these days–people don’t know how to respectfully disagree with people without resorting to violence, insulting, or name-calling.”
“There was a time when two people could disagree on important issues, but still maintain a friendship, a relationship, regardless of how they feel on particular social, political issues…If you’re going to be a carpenter, a plumber, a salesperson, anything, you need to be able to communicate, to persuade, and get your message across. This is the perfect place to do it,” Scheer continued.
However, there is one particular obstacle standing in the way of these tournaments: financial hardship. Even though the team fundraises, as they complete more tournaments, they become more expensive. “It’s $10 per person to register for these tournaments, which doesn’t necessarily seem like a lot, but we go to 5 tournaments, that’s $1,000 right there just to enter,” Scheer explained.
The team is also tasked with supplying their own judges, which can be difficult because they are asking people to volunteer their whole Saturday. Scheer continued, “If we don’t have enough judges, we can’t bring everybody. The rule is you have five competitors and you have to bring one judge for every one of them.”
Throughout these difficulties, Malden High continues to shine through. A total of 28 students participated in the novice tournament this year, and 15 out of the 28 received 1st or 2nd place. They came extremely prepared for the discussion topics covered, and said that the prep-work in class really benefited them.
Malden High carried itself in a way that perfectly illustrates the school’s principles.“The behavior in representing Malden High was at a ten here, and even the people that ran it were like ‘Wow, we did better than a lot of these other schools,’” Scheer stated.
MHS students who participated incorporated students from other schools in these group discussions. Scheer shared more on this by explaining, “They were able to pull them in and allow for different thoughts. The tournament organizers came up to me at the end, saying Malden High School was especially respectful in this tournament.”
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