When junior Sean Donohue, Varsity Congressional Debater, entered his freshman year Debate and Argumentation class, he had no idea how the class would shape his career. Through the next two years, he continued to excel in Congressional Debate and honed his skills in giving speeches and commanding the room, learning about the process of Congressional Debate, which eventually led to his win of the Best Presiding Officer Award in this season opener tournament.

During the first tournament of the season, Illinois Congressional Debate Association 1 (ICDA 1), held at Elk Grove High School, Donohue won the Best Presiding Officer Award, an award given to whichever Presiding Officer can best lead the chamber in procedures, calling on students to give speeches, keeping order, and handling motions, Donohue explained.

“The award is definitely going to motivate me to go to more tournaments because it’s a rewarding feeling, especially given that I put a lot of work into debate,” Donohue said.

In Congressional Debate, students are assigned to a chamber, working with around 15 students from other schools to compete, Donohue explained. Students individually debate different student-made bills and resolutions, simulating Congress and debating economics, foreign affairs, and civil policy, Jen Jun-Riley, English Teacher and Congressional Debate Coach, explained.

“Competitive debate is both a game and a simulation, but involves real world issues that can sometimes be controversial, so our team does a really great job of learning about different experiences and perspectives and then using that to drive what they’re discovering,” Jun-Riley said.

Students can volunteer to be elected for Best Presiding Officer by students in the chamber, Jun-Riley explained. At ICDA 1, students debated in three chambers, meaning that there were three Presiding Officers, one for each chamber, Jun-Riley said. At the end of the tournament, the students voted on who was the best, and Donohue gained the most votes, Jun-Riley explained.

“He’s a leader in every way possible,” Jun-Riley said. “He helps out his teammates, and leads in a way that shows that there’s a seat at the table for everyone, and he’s genuinely interested in the topics. His leadership models what it looks like to take calculated risks and have some humility at the same time. We are really lucky to have him.”

While there are two forms of debate Donohue could have pursued, he chose to continue Congressional Debate his sophomore and junior year, enjoying the shorter speech format, he explained. Even while balancing sports and school with debate,  Donohue showed promise in Debate during his freshman year, and only improved as the year progressed, Tara Tate, Debate Director and Social Studies Teacher, said.

“He has a good natural presence about himself that was true even his freshman year,” Tate said. “I knew he was going to be a good debater, it was just a matter of focusing and redirecting that at the beginning. When we started the Congress unit second semester, I could see a lot of promise, that’s where he got excited about debate.”