Bartlett's DDF team is gaining momentum

By TEMPEST WILLEQUER

The Blue & Gold Staff Reporter

Together Stacey Woodward and Creed Campbell run the Bartlett High School’s DDF team. They work with students to build their public speaking skills and watch the growth of their confidence.

“DDF is the only academic sport available in the district,” Woodward said. “It stands for Drama, Debate, and Forensics. Students compete in drama events, debate events, and public speaking; that’s the forensics part of it.”

People may assume that DDF is solely focused on debate, but it works with all public speaking events including acting. Others may assume that DDF is only an event in which you yell at each other from across the room, but in all actuality, that’s not really the case.

“When people think of DDF, they think of people arguing with each other or yelling or in a one-on-one debate. DDF is actually a wide range of activities. You could do drama, you could do pantomimes. It’s mainly an extracurricular for public speaking,” Andres Arias, a returning member of the team, said

With DDF being one of the only activities focused around academics, students may be less likely to join because it may seem like just another class. But with Bartlett’s team rising in numbers, everyone should be informed about what’s going on behind Woodward’s door during lunch on Wednesdays. Whether or not a student wants to join, the DDF team is a great opportunity.

“DDF is an especially useful extracurricular activity because it helps you develop new skills you wouldn’t have shown before, speaking skills or even dramatical skills, for instance,” new member Allysa Wesierski said.

The team is showing a great advance with a great student body representing the school. Last year, the team consisted of nine people. Heading to state, they were only one member away from qualifying for group events. The DDF team had the highest GPA of all teams, but didn’t qualify for the award because of that one flaw. Hopefully this year, with the bigger size of the team and the true dedication from it’s members, the Bartlett’s DDF team will win state at the end of February.

The first competitive tournament this upcoming weekend, September 28-29. Be sure to show up to support the school.