Debate
Announcements
Debate will hold a participant interest meeting on Monday, October 21, 2024 in Mr. Kurtti's room, 2617 at 4pm. The opening date for debate season is Tuesday, October 22, 2024.
Coaching Staff
Head Coach
Mr. Nathan Kurtti
Mr. Kurtti is the head debate coach at West Fargo Sheyenne High School. Mr. Kurtti graduated from North Dakota State University with a Bachelor's of Science in English Education and a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Jamestown. Mr. Kurtti currently teaches English II and AP Literature and Composition at West Fargo Sheyenne High School. In 2019, Mr. Kurtti was named the 2019-20 CSTAND ND Debate Coach of the Year. Since becoming head coach of the debate program in 2017, the debate team has grown and flourished into a successful, top debate program in the state of North Dakota. Mr. Kurtti has coached the Sheyenne High School's first debate state champions in Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The program has also seen its first National Debate Qualifiers compete at the prestigious National Speech and Debate Tournament held every summer. Since 2020, Sheyenne High School has had National Debate Qualifiers in Policy, Public Forum, Big Questions, and World Schools Debate. In addition since Mr. Kurtti has taken over the program, the debate team has left with higher state places at State Debate, and just in 2022, the Sheyenne Debate Team left with a 2nd place finish as a team and was named North Dakota State Debate Runner-up.
Contact Information:
Email: nkurtti@west-fargo.k12.nd.us
Sheyenne Classroom: 2617
Assistant Coaches
Mrs. Stephanie Radle
Mrs. Radle is currently the assistant coach for debate. She teaches Senior Composition, Senior Literature, and Fundamentals of Public Speaking at Sheyenne High School. She graduated from the University of North Dakota in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Education and has a Master of Education with a concentration in English through Minot State University.
Contact Information:
Email: sradle@west-fargo.k12.nd.us
Sheyenne Classroom: 2624
What is Debate?
Debate Categories:
Debate is an NDHSAA fine arts activity that includes two different debate event categories in the state of North Dakota. In this activity, students are given the opportunity to practice and build on speaking, research, and argumentative techniques on given topics in competitions throughout the season. Currently in debate, students can enter into either:
- Lincoln-Douglas Debate- typically known as LD Debate or LD is a one-on-one type of debate. It can sometimes be called values debate because the format traditionally places a heavy emphasis on logic, ethical values, and philosophy. This is an individual debate focuses on the moral issues of today. Topics change for this debate format every two months.
- Public Forum Debate- this type of debate has debaters argue a topic of national importance, typically involving foreign or domestic policy as opposed to the more philosophic centric topics of Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Public Forum Debate is conducted by teams of two people making alternating speeches for their side, either affirming or negating their topic. Successful Public Forum debaters must make persuasive and logical arguments in a manner that is accessible to a wide variety of audiences. This debate style also focuses on not only logical but research-based arguments. This type of debate changes topic every two months.
- Big Questions Debate (only offered at Nationals)- this type of debate format is where high school students grapple with complex worldview questions as they debate for the current year's resolution. This format is one-on-one and looks at arguments that integrate a combination of philosophy, science, and religion when looking at the big question for the year. The Big Questions Debate topic changes every year.
- World Schools Debate (only offered at Nationals)- this type of debate format includes teams of up to five students per team. Three students compete together in the round while the other two debaters are audience members for their team members. This type of debate format looks at global issues and events. This debate format also has prepared motion rounds and impromptu rounds.
Season Schedule:
Regular season debate tournaments start at the beginning of early November and end the first weekend in February. Tournaments are held on Saturdays with some two-day tournaments in December and January. The first debate tournament of the season is November 11th at West Fargo High School. Students will have the flexibility of attending certain tournaments throughout the season as arranged by their debate coaches.
Debate practices are scheduled between 4:00PM-5:30PM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday in Sheyenne room 2617. There is no debate practice on Wednesdays.
Sheyenne's Debate Team Legacy:
2018- NDHSAA 8th place
2019- NDHSAA 5th place
2020- NDHSAA 5th place
2021- NDHSAA 4th place
2022- NDHSAA 2nd place and State Runner-Up
2023- NDHSAA 3rd place
National Speech and Debate Association Membership:
Additionally, the Sheyenne Debate team is a charter member of the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA). The NSDA is the world’s largest honor society devoted to speech and debate activities, and bestows numerous awards and recognition to students, coaches, and schools. In 2016, Sheyenne earned membership into the prestigious 100 Club by earning over 100 merit degrees. That ranks Sheyenne's student congress, debate, and speech programs in the top 23% of schools nationwide.
If you have questions about debate, look through the debate handbook here or contact Mr. Kurtti for more information at his email: nkurtti@west-fargo.k12.nd.us.