A Conversation with Oscar Heller, ‘22 – CCFS President 2021-22
A Conversation with Oscar Heller, ‘22 – CCFS President 2021-22
As is not always the case with presidents of the United States, the president of the Central Catholic Forensic Society brings lots of experience and expertise to his office.
Oscar Heller, a senior from Gibsonia who competes in policy debate, started competitive public speaking as a sixth grader at Carson Middle School in the North Allegheny School District. In middle school he focused on speech events such as Extemporaneous Speaking and Student Congress, but after arriving at Central he shifted to policy debate.
“When I entered high school, Brother Kevin Dalmasse pulled me aside and said: ‘We need to do policy debate,” Oscar recalled. “That’s what I’ve doing for the last four years, and it’s been the highlight of my high school career.
“Debate is one of few areas that really cultivate your critical thinking skills, your ability to speak well, your ability to feel confident in yourself,” he added. He also praised the social advantages of the activity.
“Ultimately what’s attracted me a lot to continuing with the team and forensics has been the team atmosphere. All of my best friends and the people I’m closest with are all part of the debate team. We’re so tight-knit and such a cohesive community that it’s so enjoyable to be part of such a fantastic family where you’re all dedicated to each other and trying to accomplish a goal as a team.”
Unlike Joe Biden, Oscar doesn’t owe his presidency to an election. Rather, he was chosen by a consensus of the society’s coaches. In the past, he said, presidents of the society were elected, but that didn’t always result in effective leadership. “It was very easy to elect someone who wouldn’t be able to carry out the duties or wasn’t as dedicated to debate.”
But there are similarities between the president of the United States and the president of the forensics society. Both must offer inspiration and pay attention to detail.
“I do a little bit of everything,” Oscar said. “Every week we have what’s called Monday meetings basically where we go over the practice schedule and upcoming tournaments and give some words of encouragement, and that’s what I am in charge of. I’m also in charge of making sure that logistically we’re all ready for tournaments and making sure that everyone is attending practices and has good attendance.”
Oscar works closely with the society’s vice president, Parker Osth, who also happens to be his debate partner. He said that “together, we accomplish a lot.”
Oscar said the society’s main goal was to win the state championships again “not only in policy debate which we accomplished last year but overall as a team we want to take sweepstakes awards. We also want to keep performing at a high level. This year we have one of the strongest teams we ever had. It’s really nice because it’s split really evenly: We have really good debaters and really good members on the speech team.”
Like speech and debate programs at other schools, the society must deal with the lingering disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic was a double-edged sword,” Oscar said. “Though we weren’t able to compete in person, we’ve been able to go to a lot more policy debate events. The costs of traveling in person to New York City or Atlanta are extremely high.” With virtual debating, he said, “we can compete more and get better.”
Now speech and debate are gradually returning to normalcy. Oscar noted that “last year was all virtual,” but said that this year Central speakers and debaters have already competed at two in-person tournaments in Erie and at North Catholic High School.
“We have strict mask rules at tournaments and we also have social distancing rules to abide by,” he explained. “But so far it’s been working really smoothly. The Pittsburgh region has done a great job of making sure that we can get back to the normal debate scene.” (At the national level, he said, tournaments for policy debate are still all virtual.)
Asked about his plans post-Central, Oscar said he wanted to study political science in college and put himself on a pre-law course of study. “I’m really interested, especially because I’ve done policy debate for four years, in politics and writing and law. Those are all things I want to incorporate in my future career.” It’s a trajectory that will be familiar to a lot of forensics alumni.
Speaking of alumni, Oscar said he and other current members welcomed the participation of alumni in judging and other activities. “I think the alumni are really unique because they have so much more experience than we high schoolers do. So any advice or any more involvement would be fantastic.”
—Mike McGough, ‘69