The Hingham High School Debate Team has had a wild season with a lot of new challenges to grapple with. The foremost challenge has been the change in administration. In previous years, Mr. Nugent had been the coach of the debate team and coordinated its events. However, to pursue the position of head coach of the boys’ volleyball team, he had stepped down. In his absence, debate parent Carolyn Keane took up the mantle of responsibility and started the 2024-2025 season as new head coach. The change of the new coach meant different schedules and practice routines for the team to follow. Hands-on activities relating to public speaking, cross-examination and rhetorical analysis were introduced as part of Keane’s new debate curriculum. These activities not only aided in helping the team prepare for large competitions but also served to aid team bonding. Member, Evan Keane felt the same way, reflecting, “The thing that stuck with me the most throughout this debate season is the supportive community it’s fostered. Seeing debaters rely on each other, ask for help, and compare plans and strategies, it’s all truly inspiring to see. For a club dedicated to arguing and disagreement, debate has served as a way for me and many others to make new friends and share some laughs.”
Another challenge has been this season’s resolve in particular. This year students were given: “The United States Federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.” This resolve was particularly challenging for students as trademark/patent legislation is extremely convoluted, making it difficult to argue for or against this issue. Nonetheless, the team still persevered and maintained a strong performance throughout the entire season.
At the final, students went off to perform one last debate match before watching the final between Old Rochester-A (top negative) and Cohasset-A (top affirmative). By the awards ceremony it became evident how impressive Hingham’s performance was. Hingham won a total of eighteen awards, constituting twenty percent of all total awards across a field of thirteen schools. Some highlights include the performance from new debate team member Nick Carrano who had an outstanding performance this season coming first place for top novice negative speaker and receiving first place for top novice affirmative team as well. When Nick thought about his accomplishments, he recalled, “It was a hard-fought win. It’s not just my win but my teammates’ win and Hingham’s win. I hope to come back next year and repeat my success.” However, the season also marked a bittersweet moment as the four remaining seniors, Rowan Giardino, Caroline O’Hara, Will Sartor, and myself, all departed from the team.
Nobody seemed happier about the team’s most recent accolades than Mrs. Keane herself. Looking back at the team she oversaw. Mrs. Keane expressed, “As a new coach, the team far exceeded my expectations. In competition with a deep field of twelve other high schools, fourteen of our eighteen competitors (more than 75% of the entire team roster) took home individual and/or team awards at the Debate League Finals. Almost half the HHS team won first, second, and/or third place awards. This level of success is truly impressive. Parent support has been crucial to our team’s success. The team and I are so appreciative of the amazing group of parent volunteers that supported us all year as volunteer judges at league meets. I hope to continue to build the team next year by focusing on both basic skills and advanced debate strategies. It’s been incredibly rewarding to work with our talented students and hear them engage in highly researched, well-reasoned, logical, passionate, yet civil, debate. These are skills that they will use throughout their entire lives.”
If you are interested in political science, international relations, or public speaking in general, I highly recommend contacting Mrs. Keane and see about joining the debate team for the following season.
