Sumner High School graduate Kevin Bidwell traveled during spring break, not to a beach, but to Bloomington, Minn., where he won a national debate competition.

Oregon State University’s forensics team competed in the Pi Kappa Delta National Comprehensive Tournament. Pi Kappa Delta is the oldest national collegiate forensic organization provided the model for the National Forensic League for high school students.

Bidwell, a junior, placed first in the International Public Debate Association debate and ranked as the seventh best speaker for the entire tournament out of more than 50 schools and 200 speakers.

“It was almost a surreal feeling,” he said.

He felt a great deal of pressure during the final rounds, but it was great getting to represent for the Northwest, he said.

“It was really a big culmination for everything we’ve worked for.”

Every Monday and Wednesday the team practices with mock debates and research which runs two to three hours.

At Sumner High he was chapter president of DECA, focusing on sports management and entrepeneurship. After starting college he asked if there was a college organization equivalent and a professor told him speech and debate would allow him to exercise similar skills.

Bidwell took a course on public speaking at the community college level and quickly excelled.

“When I got to community college I got a scholarship for speech,” Bidwell said.

He describes the debate format as a combination between Lincoln/Douglas style and public forum style. There is more of a converstion style with the debate, he said. Experience levels for debate are divided into open, which is the equivalent of varsity, junior and novice. International public debate in college is a one on one competition.

“I like the team atmosphere, the camaraderie,” he said.

Teams are given topics a half hour before competition and then must prepare to debate the matter in front of an audience.

Given very little time before the rounds, it benefits competitors to know about the issues already.

“You have to kind of read up on what’s going on in foreign policy,” he said.

Initially, he wasn’t in the habit of following current events so he began to dig to find information on current events and stay savvy with the realm of geopolitics, foreign policy matters and domestic issues.

“Now it’s almost like a second nature,” he said.

Being involved in speech and debate means Bidwell has the opportunity to travel to different locations in the country and he enjoys learning about different cultural divides in the U.S.

“Just culturally so much stuff is different,” he said.

Next year, the tournament is being held in Oregon, he said.

“We have the home field advantage,” he said.