Westminster Senior High School is a high school located in Westminster, Maryland, United States.
The school, which is a part of the Carroll County Public School System (CCPS), has an enrollment of approximately 1,700 students, down from the 4,300 students it had before the opening of two new high schools in the area. It is the largest and the oldest high school in the Carroll County Public School System and is one of the largest high schools in the state of Maryland.
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Westminster Senior High School features an outstanding Speech and Debate program that has flourished as one of the perennial debate powerhouses in the state of Maryland for years. The team have been tremendously successful since its founding in 2006; this is a testament to the talent and dedication of its members in shaping a legacy of achievement throughout its short but notable history in competing with schools whose tradition of engaging in competitive debate typically stretches back for decades.
The Speech and Debate program at WHS offers students with the ability to engage in competitive speech and debate tournaments held at the local, state, and national levels. Students attend weekly meetings and are constantly immersed in a rigorous cycle of research and preparation for the Speech/Debate events in which they are participating and competing in. The incredible work ethic and commitment that the debaters have demonstrated in forging a winning tradition is a source of much pride at Westminster High School.
Westminster Senior High School's Speech and Debate Team was founded in September 2006 by Junior Sean Welsh. Ms. Lauren Kimble, WHS World History teacher, sponsored Welsh's effort and came on board as the team's advisor that September as well. Shortly after a newspaper article was published in the Carroll County Times highlighting the new Speech and Debate program starting up at WHS, former Wheaton High School (Montgomery County, MD) teacher Stan Day, who had coached debate at Wheaton from 1974 to 1995, and retired in 2004, contacted Kimble and volunteered to join the team as Head Coach. Day stepped on board in January, 2007.
From 2006 to 2008, Sean Welsh served as the first President of Westminster's Speech and Debate team. Welsh played a critical role in founding the team and aggregating support that would resolve turnover issues, with a tradition that would attract a steady stream of new talent. In 2007, WHS hosted a BCFL tournament for the first time in school history. The Owls finished in first place at BCFL Finals in Debate Sweepstakes. Sean Welsh, Timothy Zepp, Ian Gibson, Matt Lego, Peter Turner, James Jones, Kathleen Healy, and Sarah Forst qualified for NCFL Nationals held in Dallas, Texas. Ian Gibson and Matt Lego there finished nationally as octofinalists in Public Forum Debate. In 2008, Sean Welsh, Ian Gibson, and Michael Hullett qualified for NCFL Nationals in Appleton, Wisconsin. There, Welsh and Gibson finished nationally as double octofinalists in Public Forum Debate.
From 2008 to 2009, Senior Michael Hullett served as President. Hullett competed in Public Forum Debate alongside junior Josh Carback, in addition to competing in Extemporaneous Speaking, Oral Interpretation, and Student Congress. Hullet currently holds the record for most NFL points of any WHS Speech and Debate alumni at 840, awarding him the NFL Degree of Superior Distinction. In 2009, Karl Shuey and Edward Lister were crowned state champions in Public Forum Debate at BCFL Finals. Shuey and Lister, along with Hullett, qualified for NCFL Nationals in Albany, New York. Lister and Shuey finished nationally as double octofinalists in Public Forum Debate.
From 2009 to 2010, Senior Josh Carback served as President of Westminster's Speech and Debate team. Carback, after spending two years competing in Public Forum Debate, transitioned to compete in Student Congress and as Westminster High School's first Lincoln Douglas Debater. Carback adopted the responsibility of learning LD debate individually, as Coach Day mentored the young team in preparing them for a record shattering performance that they would produce the following year.
Carback led the team to organize and host their second BCFL tournament at Westminster in the school's history. Carback was responsible for making the first draft of the team’s constitution as well. In 2010, Carback qualified for NCFL Nationals in Omaha, Nebraska in Lincoln Douglas Debate, alongside fellow seniors Shannon McHale and Ihuoma Njoku, who qualified together in Public Forum Debate. Carback finished nationally as a quarterfinalist, placing in the top eight in the nation in LD. Carback is currently the highest nationally ranked debater ever to represent Carroll County, and compete for Westminster High School.
From 2010 to 2012, Cory Maks served as President for the Owl's Debate squad. Maks competed in Public Forum Debate and Impromptu speaking. In 2011, Sam Wallace & Shobhit Kumar were crowned Caroll County Public Forum Debate champions. Renee Vidal & Rebekah Gerwitz tied fellow teammates Jake Ballinger & Morgan Eichensehr as Co- Public Forum Debate State Champions at BCFL finals. WHS also finished in first place in Debate Sweepstakes at BCFL finals as well. Lincoln Douglas Debater Edward White along with Public Forum Debaters Vidal & Gerwitz, Ballinger & Eichensehr, Kumar & Wallace, and Laura Deyerberg & Ian Casker, qualified for NCFL Nationals in Washington DC. Kumar & Wallace finished nationally as octofinalists.
Prospective team members are offered to compete in a slew of Speech/Debate events. These events are commonly offered at a variety of tournaments that the owls attend every year. Each event requires a certain degree of specialization that demands expertise and experience in order to accrue a winning record. Event competition becomes more and more challenging, as tournament venues increase in size and prestige.
The Speech/Debate program at WHS offers a variety of competitive forms of speech and debate, including Extemporaneous Speaking, Student Congress, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, and Public Forum Debate. Students at WHS most heavily participate in Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas Debate.
Public Forum Debate was the first competitive event offered by WHS. Founder of WHS Debate and former team president Sean Welsh competed in PF heavily throughout his career, and established a winning tradition.
Public Forum Debate consists of two two-person teams facing off within a given debate round, one arguing in support of a given resolution that articulates some issue in public policy, and the other against it. This resolution is announced for all regular and post-season CCDL, BCFL, NCFL, and NFL tournaments one month before the tournament in which that resolution will be debated. During a typical regular season tournament, every PF team will argue for the resolution once, and against the resolution once. The third round of a given tournament typically features a coin toss that determines which sides each PF team will argue for.
Public Forum typically addresses public policy issues that are related to international relations, public administration, social issues, and economics. A sample PF topic might be, “Resolved, On Balance, the Rise of BRIC Nations is a threat to US Hegemony.” Students research and articulate arguments in a series of speeches, and live “cross-fire sessions” that typically last one hour in duration. The outcome of a round is determined by a single judge, or in the case of a playoff round, a tribunal of three judges.
Lincoln Douglas Debate was first started at WHS by former President Joshua Carback in 2009. Lincoln Douglas features two individuals pitted against each other over a given topic. The resolution that is debated in Lincoln Douglas Debate, in contrast to Public Forum Debate, typically concerns not only public policy issues, but also incorporates a philosophical/values based component. Within a typical regular season tournament, each LD debater will argue in one round against the resolution, and in one round for it. The third round typically uses a coin toss to decide which side each debater within a given round will argue for.
While PF debaters typically make empirically based arguments, LD debaters must articulate their arguments as superior to their opponents not only along empirical lines, but also along the contours of logical reasoning, in their reconciling their arguments to a given criterion (typically some sort of philosophy, or philosophically informed paradigm) that achieves a given value.
For example, the NCFL Lincoln Douglas Nationals topic/resolution for 2010 addressed the issue of whether all constitutional rights should be given to all people on US soil. In making arguments for or against the notion of applying all constitutional rights to all people on US soil, values such as justice and morality were typically used by LD debaters, and common criterions that were employed to reconcile those values with the empirical components of their cases included Social Contract Theory, pragmatism, etc.
All judges for CCDL, BCFL, NCFL, and NFL tournaments consist of volunteers. Local and state tournaments typically consist of volunteer members from the community; teachers, lawyers, doctors, parents, and debate alumni etc. Judges for National tournaments are admitted to volunteer based on a given set of criteria outlined by each individual tournament’s guidelines and policies. Judges at National Tournaments typically consist of debate coaches, professors, and teachers.
The CCDL offers local monthly tournaments featuring competition in Public Forum debate between Carroll County Public Schools. The CCDL was organized and promoted largely by former WHS Speech and Debate Team President Sean Welsh. Under Welsh's leadership, the CCDL was formed in 2008. Regular-season CCDL tournaments are hosted by a different CCDL member school every month on a given school night, typically consisting of three competitive rounds for each competitive event. At the end of the year, the winningest individuals and teams from each event compete in CCDL finals – a playoff based tournament. Every event champion at CCDL finals is in turn crowned as a Carroll County Debate Champion.
The BCFL operates as the local chapter of the National Catholic Forensics League. The BCFL offers monthly/bi-monthly tournaments hosted at member schools throughout the state of Maryland. BCFL tournaments consist of competing schools that are within the region under the sphere of influence of the Baltimore Catholic Archdiocese. Member schools include private and public schools. Every month, one to two BCFL member schools will host a BCFL regular season tournament on a given Saturday, typically running from 8 am to 6 pm.
Each regular season tournament features a variety of events, including Public Forum Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, Oral Interpretation, Impromptu, etc. There are three competitive rounds for all Speech/Debate events throughout the day. At every regular season debate tournament there is a closing award ceremony where those individuals and teams with the best records in their respective events receive medals. At the conclusion of every regular season, a BCFL member school will host the BCFL Finals, the regional championships for all Speech/Debate events. Individuals/teams qualify for states based on their winning record. BCFL Finals runs the duration of a given Saturday in a playoff format. Those crowned champions of their respective events at BCFL Finals, are in turn crowned diocese/regional champions. Additionally, any individual/team that breaks into quarterfinals at BCFL finals, automatically qualifies for NCFL Nationals.
The NCFL is currently one of the largest, and most widely competed in Speech/Debate leagues in the country. Each year, every Catholic diocese contributes their region’s top competitors in each Speech/Debate event, to NCFL Nationals. NCFL Nationals is held in a different city every year, typically on the campus of a major University. Over 7,500 of the United States' best speakers and debaters flock to NCFL nationals to test themselves against the nation’s best and brightest high school students.
The NCFL Grand National Tournament runs for one weekend, in which teams compete in five rounds on Saturday, and then those teams with the winningest records in their respective events break into playoff rounds held on Sunday. A massive award ceremony, at which teams from across the country are present, awards trophies to individuals/teams that finish as double octofinalists (top 32 in the country), octofinalists (top 16 in the nation), quarterfinalists (top 8 in the nation), semifinalists (top 4 in the nation), finalists (runner-up), or as national champions.
The National Forensic League is one of the largest national debate leagues in the United States. Each year, every state hosts one NFL tournament. Students from around the state compete for their various schools in their respective events for three rounds in that tournament on a given Saturday. Those with the winningest records, qualify for playoff-double elimination rounds held the following Sunday. Finalists in each event from every state’s respective NFL tournament, qualify for NFL Nationals.
NFL Nationals is held at a different city every year. The tournament lasts for a week. Those who accrue a winning record throughout the week, break into playoff rounds. An awards ceremony is held at the conclusion of NFL Nationals, where individuals/teams are awarded and nationally recognized for their performance at that tournament.
The National Forensics League operates as the national honor society of high school Speech and Debate. A certain winning record must be achieved by each individual before being eligible to qualify for membership. Additionally, for every tournament an individual competes in, a certain quantity of NFL points is awarded to that individual based on their win/loss record or speaking rank in speech events. As an individual accrues more and more points, the NFL will award that individual higher and higher degrees of distinction as an NFL member.
The Westminster Senior High School Drama Program performs three shows a year. The show in the Fall is a straight play, the show in the Winter is a variety of one-act plays, and the show in the Spring is a musical. Westminster High School Drama also attends and performs yearly at the county-wide "Drama Fest" where every school does a variety of scenes/numbers from a chosen show of their season, and are critiqued. This event is not a contest in any way. The school's drama program has also been invited to the Fringe Festival held in Edinburgh, Scotland, but has not yet attended.
Previous Productions Include:
Athletics at WHS include:
The Owls Varsity Football team played in the 1951, 1976, and 2005 State Championships.
The Owls Varsity Baseball team are the 2007 3A State Champions.
The Owls Track and Field team fielded a state champion in the 110 High Hurdles at the 2007 MPSSAA Region 3 Track and Field Championships.
The Owls Field Hockey team played in the state semi-finals in 2007, the finals in 2009, and won the State Championship in 2010.
The Owls Varsity Basketball team won the 1947 State Championships under coach Herb Ruby.
The Owls Boys Cross Country team has won 7 state titles, including four in a row from 1996-1999. They were also once ranked 17th in the nation.
The Westminster High School Owls Marching Band is under the direction of Brian Drake and Jen Jones. It is the first band from Maryland to participate in a Bands of America competition, including the Grand National Championships held in the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. It won the 2002 Atlantic Coast Championships, a Tournament of Bands-sanctioned competition, and won a Bands of America Regional championship in 2003 becoming the first and only band in Maryland to become BOA Regional Champions. It participated in the Bands of America Grand National Championship in 2004 and 2005, placing 21st and 37th, respectively. In 2008, the WHS Marching Band placed 2nd overall at the Towson BOA Regional as well as winning best music, and also placed 4th overall at the BOA Super Regional at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. In the 2009 season, Westminster placed 1st overall at the Towson BOA Regional, winning general effect and best music. The band placed 4th overall at the BOA Regional Championships in West Chester, PA, and also competed in the USSBA Maryland and Delaware State Championships at Towson, MD in Unitas Stadium taking all captions and winning first place in their group and overall. On October 2, 2010, the band competed in the USSBA Marine Corps Invitational at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. They placed first overall, taking all captions and receiving the prestigious Esprit de Corps Award, which is given to the band best exemplifying the characteristics of pride, professionalism and patriotism. Later in the 2010 season the band once again placed first overall at the Bands of America Regional Championship in Towson, MD.
Field Shows:
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