Who We Are

Speech and Debate is more than a club. It is a team. Students and coaches come together to foster public speaking skills through team building and learning. With consistent practice, feedback, and competition, students develop debate, performance, and speech writing skills. Engaged participation, cooperation and team unity are crucial standards which ensure positive team experiences. They instruct and lead with passion, integrity, respect, and camaraderie.

Highlights

Milton Academy has a decades-long legacy of success in categories such as Dramatic Interpretation, Poetry Reading, Extemporaneous Speaking, Congressional Debate and many others. The team has been a member of the National Speech and Debate Association, the foremost authority in this activity, since the 1940’s. The team’s historical dedication to the Massachusetts Speech and Debate League has contributed to the league’s sustained excellence on the national stage. Coaches continue the work of those who led before them, serving both local and national leagues in administrative roles.

Individual students regularly earn state and national championship titles, with the larger team receiving recent accolades such as the Massachusetts Forensic League State Champions, the National Catholic League Masterson and Founder’s Awards, and the National Speech and Debate Association’s Bruno Jacob Championship. Over the past 75+ years, this dedicated group has established an unmatched standard of excellence.

What we do

The Milton Academy Upper School Speech & Debate Team aims to improve critical thinking, research, writing, performance and oral communication skills in its students. This occurs through weekly full-team practices, supplemented by one-on-one personalized coaching sessions for students.

The team actively competes in approximately 15 tournaments each year through the Massachusetts Speech and Debate League, National Catholic Forensic League, and National Speech and Debate Association. Members compete in the following categories:

What if I have more questions?

Please reach out to lindsay_donovan@milton.edu if you have any questions or need to get in contact with us. For news and highlights, check out our team’s Instagram here.