Sunday, July 20, 2008

Rossview High School students Kathleen Beach and Kori Furcolowe won 6th place in Public Forum Debate at the National Forensic League National Tournament held in Las Vegas, Nevada, in June. This year’s tournament fielded 241 teams who had qualified from NFL district tournaments across the country. Their only losses were against the teams that won 1st and 3rd place in the nation, both on 2-1 decisions.  Beach and Furcolowe won their district tournament in March with an undefeated record against 35 Tennessee teams, earning their chance to compete against the top teams in the nation.

The teams debated the topic Resolved:  US policies established after September 11, 2001, have substantially reduced the risk of terrorist acts against the United States.  Prior to the competition, the girls prepared by researching the topic extensively and by writing cases for and against the topic.  Through library visits, internet searches and listening to podcasts, the girls acquired at least 1,000 pages of researched information which they took to Las Vegas to use in their debates. A coin toss began each debate with the winner choosing either to speak first or second or to debate the pro or con side.

Last year, Beach and Furcolowe attended the NFL National Tournament as Student Congress Representatives.  At that tournament, Beach won 1st place in Expository Speaking and Furcolowe was a quarterfinalist in Impromptu Speaking.  This experience proved to these young ladies that they could successfully compete on a national level. In the fall of 2007 the girls decided to team up as debate partners.  Furcolowe was already a seasoned debater, but Beach had no debate experience.  At their first tournament together at Wake Forest University they made it to the final four out of 75 nationally competitive teams.  Throughout the debate season they continued to win numerous awards including 1st place at Henry County High School in Paris and semi-finalists at Vestavia Hills High School in Birmingham.

NFL students earn points and degrees through public speaking and competition.  Beach and Furcolowe have earned the degree of Outstanding Distinction by earning over 1200 points a piece.  As one of the most outstanding speech students to compete at Rossview High School, Furcolowe will be greatly missed by her team.  Furcolowe graduated from Rossview in May and will continue her education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she will also compete with the newly established UT debate team.  Beach is a rising senior at Rossview High where she is president of the speech team.  The team is coached by Mrs. Lee Ellen Beach.