La Vega High School took its first debate team to district in school memory (we cannot say that we have never gone because we simply do not know) at the China Spring Annex on February 2. Viviano Solano and Matthew Winget had a 2-1 record and were only 16 speaker points away from the semifinals, while Alex Hernandez and Brandon Martinez did not place with a 1-2 record. Viviano and Matt only lost to Connally, and that team went to the semifinals, so they were only a win away. It was close.

The other participating schools were China Spring, Connally, Gatesville, Lorena (Robinson did not bring anyone).

We participated in a team debate called cross examination or CX for short. In CX debate, two students compete against two other students on another team. UIL releases a topic a full year before district so that students can develop both affirmative and negative cases about the topic.

The topic was about whether or not the United States federal government should increase its involvement in space. This year we took Viviano Solano, Matthew Winget, Alex Hernandez, and Brandon Martinez. Viviano and Matt missed the semifinals by one spot since they came in fifth overall.

We are also developing a Lincoln Douglass (LD) debate team that will compete at the regular district meet in April. LD debate is given a new topic every semester and is a solo debate against another debater from another school. Whereas CX is more about policy, LD is more about values and morals. We are excited about our opportunities in this event as well.

Finally, our debaters and some other students are going to also compete in an event called Extemporaneous Speaking called Extemp for short. There are two Extemp events: Informative and Persuasive. Informative speakers have 30 minutes to write a speech about an assigned current event and then give a seven-minute informative speech. Persuasive speakers have the same time limits but will choose a side of the topic and try to persuade the judge to believe in their side. Our Extempers will also compete at district in April.