Oil Company Grant Finances Debate on Renewable Energy

From http://www.my.highschooljournalism.org/tx/houston/kerr/article.cfm?eid=18111&aid=230526

CX teams go green, win grant
Funds from BP Global help kick off expanded speech activities

By Alex Karr

This year, the Speech and Debate team is already leaps ahead from where they started last year, having already earned a $10,000 grant from BP Energy for researching and educating others about alternative energies.
Debate coach Derek Davis was one of the few in the nation who wrote in about the grant, along with last year’s officers.

“No other debate coach that I’m aware of, and I know no other debate coach was accepted [for the grant] did it,” Davis said. “I actually thought there was going to be a lot of competition, but it came down to us being at state competing. It was due at midnight, and my officers and I had it submitted that night.”

Last year, the team lacked in supplies and money for trips, but with the grant, there is a new outlook and new hope for embracing opportunities.

“We did not have a budget comparable to any other competitive team,” Davis said. “In three years of discussing with other coaches, we operate with about one tenth of what most programs operate with.

“Funds would have to come out of the pockets of the kids and myself. We had to scrounge for printer cartridges and other materials; it was really frustrating.”

Sophomore Ayesha M. agrees that the club was in desperate need of supplies.

“We need a lot of writing utensils, paper, tubs, and expanding files,” Ayesha said. “We were all ecstatic when we received the grant.”

In addition to purchasing materials used in class, each policy team received a laptop to work on, reducing the need for paper. The money will also help provide students the resources to go to tournaments, such as the state and national tournaments.

“For state and nationals alone, we’re talking about several thousand dollars,” Davis said. “One of those trips is more than our budget in a year. We are able to go to more elite and travel tournaments this year and that’s going to help us out tremendously.”