Owasso’s Debate Invitational
By Sadie Woollard
For the past couple of years, the Owasso Rams Invitational hasn't gone exactly to plan, which is to be expected when hundreds of students from other schools gather in one place. Regardless of the previous struggle, Owasso’s debate team ran the event phenomenally.
The Owasso Rams Invitational is an annual event where hundreds of students from surrounding schools come together to compete in various Speech and Debate events at Owasso High School.
Owasso’s end goal every year is to help all of the competitors succeed by running their tournament at an efficient level.
To begin the tournament, the invitational’s help desk was booming with smiles. These students became the face of the team, being that they were the first people you would see as you walked through the school doors. They were often given small conflicts to solve throughout the tournament. The help desk workers mastered communication with each other while directing judges, teachers and students.
Photo of Riley Carter taken by Sadie Woollard
Debate Board member Riley Carter was assigned the position “keeper of the keys” and was in charge of locking and unlocking rooms. When Carter was not busy with key keeping, she was stationed at the help desk welcoming each guest.
Photo of a coach, Riley Carter and Alexis Sroufe by Sadie Woollard
“Running around and making sure everyone was in the right spot and all the doors were unlocked was a big responsibility but I did have a lot of fun,” Carter shared.
A few members of the board were in charge of gathering donations from different companies for the hospitality room. These donations were a great assistance and the perfect way to thank all of the people who helped judge the competition.
Photo of fruit board taken by Sadie Woollard
The hospitality room, also referred to as the “judge’s lounge,” is where judges waited to be assigned a room. The Owasso Debate Team bought, fundraised and prepared food for judges in between rounds.
Running the hospitality room was a full-time job. There were several hands on deck to make sure food was set up and prepared on time to get judges fed. The hospitality room students were quick to anticipate attendee’s needs and were an incredible cleanup crew.
The Debate Team was definitely not the only group who made this tournament such a success. Owasso’s Debate Team showed gratitude to the parents, teachers and community who served as judges, hospitality room monitors and concession workers.
Photo of Drama and Speech Parents Association taken by Sadie Woollard
Even the members of the Drama Board were showing their support and putting in hours at this tournament. With students coming together left and right, the Drama and Debate departments are a couple of the many astounding groups that represent Owasso High School.
Photo of Jillian McIntosh, Mallory Sepúlveda, Zoey Garrett, Keri Beaman, Ian Richards and Gabriel Ratliff taken by Sadie Woollard
This year’s Debate Board president Monty Roberts designed, ordered and displayed shirt pins and buttons with various sayings for other debate teams to buy. Allison Dodge is Owasso’s Debate coach and acted as the glue that kept the whole tournament together.
Photo of Monty Roberts and Ainsley Trzebiatowski taken by Sadie Woollard
Dodge’s efforts to help this tournament go according to plan were clear; she managed this tournament with ease. Somehow, she was able to be everywhere at once. Dodge coordinated the entire event, matching students to specific duties that they worked well in. Because of this, there was a heightened level of respect for Dodge’s ability to conduct students, parents and teachers at this year's debate tournament.