Brookland Middle School’s Speech & Debate Invitational: Students Showed Up and Spoke Out!

Middle schoolers discovered their voices at the first speech and debate invitational competition of the 2025-2026 school year.

On October 25, Brookland Middle School hosted the competition as part of the Richmond Forum’s initiative to expand speech and debate opportunities to middle school students. There was no debate over how electrifying the day was!

For many students, this was their first competition. After putting lots of effort and time into their presentations, students displayed their skills to a panel of judges, including four recruited by Start 1 Spark from the University of Richmond’s Law School.

UR graduate students, Ethan Wheeler and Aly Murray, happily offered to help judge the competition and see all the blooming talent. 

“I'm part of the trial advocacy team at Richmond and thought that the club might be interested in getting to see some younger advocates do their thing,“ said Murray.

It’s important for young students to receive feedback from experienced adults.

“I want to see them passionate and confident about being here and speaking their minds,” said Wheeler.

Confidence radiated out of the young competitors, especially the speech duo from Brookland, Haneen Ibrahim and Maryam Al-Haj.

Naturally, the girls joined the speech and debate club together.

“My English teacher introduced me to it last year,” Maryam said. “I've always wanted to get better at public speaking so I thought it'd be a good opportunity.”

Maryam introduced Haneen to the speech and debate club — the two girls were hesitant at first, but now they are avid members.

“We’re very shy people and it's really out of our comfort zone,” Haneen said.

Haneen and Maryam’s performance was about ways to cope with anxiety — Haneen being the “embodiment” of anxiety while Maryam fought off her anxious feelings.

The duo secured first place for their outstanding performance, proving to themselves they can do anything they put their minds to.

Speech and Debate coach, Brooke Maynor-Rayfield, couldn’t be more proud of her team.

Maynor-Rayfield spent her formative years doing speech and debate. From first hand experience, she knows how impactful it can be on young students.

“It was always just kind of an extracurricular for me, It got me out of unsafe spaces,” said Maynor-Rayfield.

It’s vital for students to have an outlet outside of school work or home life — speech and debate club teaches kids how to advocate for themselves, structure their thoughts, and become excellent public speakers.

According to Maynor-Rayfield, students were drawn to joining her club once she offered pizza at her meetings. Food incentives definitely have an impact on middle schoolers!

Thanks to Start 1 Spark, local volunteers from Hope Church served enough pizza and salad for students and staff for lunch. The day was full of energy and excitement — all that brain power can only be fueled by food. 

The Invitational allowed competitors to not only show off their skills but also work out their nerves. With the first competition of the year behind them, we’re confident the Brookland debaters will speak even louder next time.