TRINITY CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL

Student Congress

"WHAT IS STUDENT CONGRESS?"	Student Congress (also known as Congressional Debate) is an event where students imitate state and national Senate and House of Representative debates. Student read current events issues and write bills and resolutions that will be debated in student congress sessions. Student Congress is a year long class.


"WHAT GOES ON IN THE CLASSROOM?"	The first semester is dedicated to teaching congressional speech writing, organization, speech delivery, and parliamentary procedure. The class will write and submit two pieces of legislation in the form of bills or resolutions which will be debated at West Kansas District Tournaments in the spring. By the end of the first semester, students will have researched a handful of bills and resolutions from previous years, will have written and delivered congressionally organized speeches on each of them, and will have completed one or two mock sessions which will prepare them for second semester tournaments. The second semester is dedicated to researching legislative packets which are comprised of bills and resolutions submitted by schools from the West Kansas District. These bills and resolutions will be debated at spring tournaments. Tournaments are on Fridays. Students usually are dismissed on Fridays around 1:PM and return around 10:PM. Students must pre-arrange their assignments and duties from classes that they will miss.


"THE HISTORY BEHIND STUDENT CONGRESS"	Student Congress or Congressional Debate began in 1938. During World War II, all national speech competitions came to a halt; however, President Franklin D. Roosevelt urged the National Forensic League to continue Student Congress competitions during World War II for its continued enhancement of democratic values. Since 1991, the Stennis Center has sponsored the John C. Stennis National Student Congress as part of the National Forensic League's (NFL) National Speech Tournament. Senator John C. Stennis, the tournament's namesake, was the fourth longest serving U.S. Senator in history (1947-1989) and received remarkable national recognition for his years in public service. President Ronald Reagan and the United States Government honored Senator Stennis by naming the U.S. Navy's newest nuclear powered aircraft carrier the U.S.S. John C. Stennis (CVN-74). The Stennis Center supports Student Congress as leadership training for public service. Rex Buffington, executive director of the Stennis Center, remarks, "This program is a fertile training ground for talented individuals who want to use their leadership abilities to help make our communities, states, nation, and world better."


"TRINITY'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN STUDENT CONGRESS"	Trinity began Student Congress in the 2000 school year. Each year over 7500 students across the nation compete in district tournaments for the opportunity to advance to the national tournament. The first year for Trinity Student Congress was an instant success as Todd Johnson, senior, qualified in Senate for the John C. Stennis National Student Congress Tournament in Portland, Oregon. Johnson received congressional nomination (special parliamentarian vote where only one nomination is granted) and advanced to the Semi-Finals (top 48 in the nation) and finished 25th. In 2002, Matt Partridge, junior, qualified in Senate for the John C. Stennis National Student Congress Tournament in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2004, the Trinity Celtic Student Congress Team finished 4th at the West Kansas District Championship. In 2004, Kristen Skolaut, junior, qualified in the House of Representatives for the John C. Stennis National Student Congress Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. Skolaut advanced to the Semi-Finals (top 48 in the nation). Skolaut received congressional nomination (special parliamentarian vote where only one nomination is granted) in Semi-Finals and advanced to the Finals (top 24) and finished 10th. In 2005, the Trinity Celtic Student Congress Team finished 2nd at the West Kansas District Championship. In 2005, Kristen Skolaut, senior, earned a return trip in the House of Representatives for the John C. Stennis National Student Congress Tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (The National Tournament is in June, and the results will be posted soon after)