• Groton has always had a competitive debate program, and the same should be true this season. Head Coach Kristen Gonsoir has 16 students out for the program.
• Returning from last season are Allen Baker, Tyler Holm, Toby Carda, Andee Geist, Joellen Gonsoir, Jocelyn Peterson and Alyssa Sippel. New this year are Lauren Kulwicki, Olivia Lone,  Luke Smith, Katie Groeblinghoff, Taylor Gustafson, Kaite Miller, Lily Cutler, Dakota Gonzales and Erin Smith
• There are two different types of debate, students can pair up into teams of two for the Public Forum Debates or go solo and do Lincoln/Douglas Debates.
• Two Person Public Forum debate argues current event topics. The topic changes every month. For the month of December the topic is Resolved: The United States should prioritize tax increases over spending cuts. For January the topic is Resolved: On balance, the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission harms the election process.
• Single person Lincoln/Douglas is a debate on resolutions regarding values. The topic changes every two months. The current topic is Resolved: The United States ought to guarantee universal health care to all citizens. The new topic beginning in January is Resolved: Rehabilitation ought to be valued above retribution in the United States criminal justice system.
• As one of the smaller schools that participate in debate, Groton always faces tough competition. Two of the toughest competitions are the National Qualifying

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