COVER STORY
CHRISTY BRIGGS: Preparing Students to Be Revolutionary Editor’s Note: The questions that follow were collected from Nevada speech and debate educators and compiled as part of Christy’s National Educator of the Year materials. Visit www.speechanddebate.org/coach-recognition to view her entire portfolio.
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he 2020 National Educator of the Year, Christy Briggs of Reno High School in Reno, Nevada, believes that teaching speech and debate is like leading a revolution. She explains, “In a day and age where teenagers are being bombarded with social media, fake news, and a plethora of other things designed to distract them from actually developing their own thoughts, speech and debate gives students a platform for their voice.” Nine years into her teaching career, with no speech and debate experience, Briggs volunteered to add a speech and debate course to her class load. She says that within hours of committing to take over the class, “debate students started showing up in my classroom asking if we could all meet to talk about how the next school year would go. Agreeing to that meeting set our future in motion.”
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ROSTRUM | APRIL/MAY 2020
In a day and age where teenagers are being bombarded with social media, fake news, and a plethora of other things designed to distract them from actually developing their own thoughts, speech and debate gives students a platform for their voice.” — Christy Briggs
Eleven years later, she still seeks to guide her students to develop the skills and the values that will prepare them to be revolutionary in their school, community, and lives.
How do you approach teaching speech and debate? I see my role as more of a facilitator, there to take care of and organize the logistics. I plan a calendar, but the students plan the content that goes on the calendar. On the surface, the class is designed around tournament prep; students meet in alternating speech and debate groups. Digging deeper, leaders of those
groups plan specific content for each of those days. I believe that putting agency into the hands of the students is what has led to the overwhelming success and popularity of the program on our campus. In the speech and debate classroom, students feel valued as young adults, and they feel in control of their environment. They are the true leaders of the revolution.
Have you ever had students in class who required special accommodations? Absolutely. In fact, I think we thrive when we have more diversity among the
students in the class. Over the years, I’ve had several students who broke the mold—and the experiences were epic! Adjustments are easy to make. Exempting tournament participation is an easy fix—though I try to convince all students in my class to attend at least one tournament—because I think the students involved in speech and debate are some of the most accepting and loving students around. The more opportunity I have to expose students to those who they perceive as being unlike them, the better. I love watching attitudes change when students realize that others truly believe in them and their abilities.
How do you manage such a large team successfully? Something a former student said that has stuck with me is, “It’s not that you’re mean, it’s that you’re