It’s an argument that can’t be won. 

What Keystone Heights lacks in resources, it excels in reputation and recognition. It’s the little team that stands word-to-word, point-to-counterpoint, pro-to-con with the most prolific debate teams in the state without a stutter or a flinch. 

Contestants don’t know which side of an argument they will debate. They blindly select topics before each round, not knowing whether they will take the pro or con stance. They are usually given 30 minutes to study their issue, then they must use their personalities and skills to convince the judges they’ve been a master of the subject all along. 

“The key is to answer them as soon as possible with a strong argument so that you can shut it down as soon as possible, using a strong, reliable source,” said Shannon Southam, the school’s speech and debate coach. “It says you are right, and you are saying it confidently. That grabs the judges’ attention.” 

There are no tryouts for the team, Southam said. She recruits students, some as young as elementary grades, who display a unique personality and are quick-witted. From there, they have become masters at watching other teams, learning their intricacies and pooling those insights into a unique brand that serves Keystone Heights well. 

“I've been able to find my voice and be able to talk my opinion,” said Nevaeh Copeland. “I've been able to find exactly what matters most to me. The tournaments are very competitive, but I always realized at the end of the day, I've learned so much from other competitors and how they speak and how they take notes, and I've used that to reflect on my own to become better.” 

Something is clearly working for the Indians. 

This school year, Keystone Heights brought home 23 top six finishes in 13 tournaments; had five state qualifiers – Ava Herman for High School Extemporaneous Speaking, Kaylee Mason for High School “We the People: Civics trivia; Cali Chamberlain and Sophia Yaffe for High School Impromptu, and Rebekah Lugo in Middle School Declamation. 

The Indians will send Jillian Parales (Oral Interpretation of Literature) and Chamberlain (Extemporaneous Speaking) to the National Catholic Forensic League Qualifying Tournament later this month, while Chamberlain, Parales, Yaffe and Lugo will all be at the National Speech and Debate Association Tournament in Richmond, Virginia, in June. 

The Florida Panther District of the National Speech and Debate Association selected Indians Principal Laurie Burke as its Administrator of the Year, while the school’s Behavioral Health Specialist, Christina Bagasan, was selected as the volunteer of the year for working with the speech team. Both names will be submitted for possible national honors in June. 

And Southam was honored as the Northeast Regional Ambassador for the Florida Debate Initiative/Florida Civics and Debate Initiative. She will receive her Distinguished Service Key from NSDA for service to speech and debate programs. 

Lugo said another key is to familiarize your opponent’s side and “know their side better than they do.” 

That’s how you win a debate. 

“We go against big league schools that have solid speech and debate programs,” Kylee Mason said, “and here we're in Keystone. We’re tiny, but we’re loud. Oh, we are loud.”