Looking at activities offered at Blaine High School, two stand outs are debate and speech. They are both coached by Mr. Eichele and Mrs. Munch.

Comparing these two activities there are many things to discuss about them.  First, looking at debate.  Students do research on topics, take notes, go to tournaments and argue with other students about the current topic in an organized format.  At the tournament, they are judged and graded on speaking points and how well each debater did and then an overall winner is chosen based on who made a better argument.

In debate there is no room for creativity whatsoever, because everyone is serious about proving their argument in a formal way.

In speech there are several topics to choose from ranging from a wide variety of topics based on the interest level and the participants. At tournaments, the speech givers are placed in rooms with other participants who are in the same category. After each speech is given, they are judged on the quality and presentation of their speech. Then a winner is decided.

When it comes down to it, speech is a much better activity to join than debate. In speech you can choose the category you wish to be in which can lead to some creativity and is therefore the better choice.