MonticelloLive

Congratulations to the MHS Delegation of the Arkansas Student Congress.  Members were Brandy Woodall, Katelyn Burch, Lori Hilburn, Tiffany Stringfellow, Maxwell Sawyer, and Andrew Cortines.
Excellent awards

• Lori Hilburn                    Floor Debate and Parliamentary Procedures
• Andrew Cortines           Floor Debate and Committee
• Max Sawyer                   Floor Debate
• Katelyn Burch                Floor Debate and Parliamentary Procedures

Superior Awards

• Lori Hilburn                   Committee
• Max Sawyer                  Committee
• Katelyn Burch               Committee

Max Sawyer received a s Special Recognition award. The legislative bill that he authored was passed as a “Law of Congress” andwill now be forwarded to the Governor’s Office.  Only 3 high school bills of the 40 submitted achieved this status. Max was also recognized as the Best of the MHS Delegation. Debbie Ashcraft served as the 2006 Director of Student Congress and was recognized for her efforts
                      
The UAM Delegation earned recognition as the Best College Delegation; they were elected to 4 Officer Positions. This was their first year to attend.

Student Congress (also known as Congressional Debate) is a form of high school debate in the United States.  The event is sponsored annually in Arkansas by the Arkansas Speech Communication Association and is recognized by the National Forensic League and the National Federation of High Schools. 

In Student Congress, high school students imitate “Congress-people” by debating student-generated legislative bills that are submitted in September.  After the legislation is compiled by the ASCA Student Congress Committee, it is given to each participating team, which then attempts to research with the goal of being able to speak on both sides of every bill. 

Upon arrival at Student Congress, the students begin to lobby for bills and candidates that will lead the Houses and Senate.

The benefits of this Congressional Debate format allow students a voice on topics that concern them; gives students knowledge of a wide variety of important issues; forces students to prepare arguments for both sides of any given topic; introduces debate formats and encourages students to think and speak “on their feet’; lastly, it introduces students to the practices and procedures of the U.S. Legislature.