Eight high school student leaders from across the state have been selected to serve on the Arkansas Speech & Debate Student Advisory Board for the 2024-2025 academic year. The eight juniors and seniors were chosen for their outstanding leadership skills, achievements in academics and activities, and commitment to positively impacting their communities. The group will attend several meetings throughout the 2024-2025 academic year, being provided the opportunity to work with adult leadership of the Arkansas Communication & Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA) to grow leadership skills, bring youth perspectives to speech & debate, and support inter-program camaraderie and community within the Arkansas speech & debate high school circuit.

“Promoting student involvement and leadership training within our learning community is one of the organization’s most important initiatives,” shared Zackery Tucker, ACTAA President. “As ACTAA continues to support educators to invest and train Arkansas’ next generation of leaders through speech & debate, I am excited to gain the insight and perspectives of the students we ultimately serve on how speech & debate can be more than just competition but a valued experience in every school in the state.”

2024-2025 Student Advisory Board:

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The Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA) is a non-profit professional organization serving educators. Its purpose is to promote communication, debate, forensics and theatre as an essential discipline, life skill, and art form. Additionally, ACTAA is the official sanctioning organization authorized by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) and National Federation of State High Schools Association (NFHS) to govern interscholastic speech, debate and theatre competition in Arkansas.

ACTAA Leadership has called the annual general business meeting of the association for Saturday, Sep. 21 at 9:15 a.m. to take place in the Show Barn at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain as part of the annual Fall Conference, Sep 19-21.

The association's general business meeting is an annual opportunity for the membership will hear reports from officers & committees, vote on Proposed Rule & Governing Changes, and elect new members of the Nominations Committee. 

Below is linked the agenda for the meeting. 

General Business Meeting Agenda

The Arkansas Communication & Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA) has announced that the 2025 Arkansas Forensics & Debate State Championship Tournament will be held May 2-3 at Fayetteville High School.

The Arkansas Forensics & Debate State Championship Tournament is the official Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) sanctioned state title competition for high school speech & debate activities in Arkansas. Each year, student competitors earn a place in the state tournament by advancing into certain final rounds of competition at one or more of the sanctioned speech & debate tournaments hosted throughout the state in a season that runs from September to April. Approximately 250 of the state’s top student competitors from 20-plus high schools are expected to qualify to compete in the tournament to earn a state champion title in one of the 21 individual or team speech & debate events.

Details about the Arkansas Forensics & Debate State Championship Tournament will be made available at actaa.org/state.

About ACTAA.

Founded in 1919 as the Arkansas Little Theatre Association, ACTAA has a long history of promoting the rigorous study and ethical practice of professional communication, debate, and theatre arts as an essential discipline, life skill, and art form. As a professional association of educators since 1934, ACTAA has served as the official organization sanctioned by the AAA to govern interscholastic speech, debate, and theatre competitions between AAA member schools in Arkansas. Through supporting educators in the classroom and coordinating interscholastic competition, ACTAA works to provide the students of Arkansas opportunities to grow critical thinking skills, interpersonal effectiveness, leadership, collaborative work, problem-solving, self-efficacy, etc., in experiential learning through debate, forensics, acting, and public speaking.

Arkansas high schools and colleges are invited to send a student delegation to the 56th Arkansas Student Congress. This year’s Student Congress will be held at Episcopal Collegiate School (1701 Cantrell Road) and the Arkansas State Capitol Building (500 Woodlane Street) Sunday, November 10th to Tuesday, November 12th, 2024. Entry forms and bills must be submitted by Wednesday, September 25, 2024.

Arkansas Student Congress is the oldest model legislative event in the state. Established in 1968, the event provides a unique opportunity for both high school (House) and college (Senate) students to simulate the representative democratic process at a state-wide level. For over 50 years, ACTAA has hosted this tournament, which includes the opportunity for students to participate in mock party caucuses, committees, and floor debates over student written legislation. On Sundays of the tournament, parties, caucuses, and committee meetings are held at a chosen location in Little Rock. Monday & Tuesday of the tournament, students debate original student legislation on the House & Senate floor in the State Capitol Building.

More information about the competition and registration can be found at actaa.org/congress.

UPDATED 08/28/2024

Ahead of the Fall Conference, Sep. 19-21, at Petit Jean Mountain, Executive Director Martene Campbell shares three proposed changes to the association's governing documents and competition rules for its activities. 

Each year, members are able submit changes to ACTAA's government documents and competition rules for consideration for adoption at the organization's annual business meeting by the membership. 

Proposed amendments for consideration at the General Membership Business Meeting on Saturday, September 21:

For reference, below are links to the current versions of each document being proposed to be amended:

15 Arkansas students advanced elimination rounds at the National Speech & Debate Tournament hosted in Des Moines, Iowa, June 16–21, 2024.

Rachael McCall from Cabot Junior High North won first place in the Original Spoken Word Poetry in the middle school, becoming the first student from Arkansas to earn a national championship title at a National Speech & Debate Association national tournament (middle or high school) in state history

More than 6,700 students from 1,500 schools competed in the tournament, which is the largest speech & debate competition in the nation.

In addition to McCall, the following students advanced to elimination rounds at the tournament:

The National Speech & Debate Tournament marks the capstone of speech and debate activities for more than 140,000 members across the country. The student competitors represent the best and brightest young people across the United States and the globe. The tournament is hosted by the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) June 16–21, 2024 in Des Moines, IA.

Competitors earned bids to qualify to participate in  the National Speech & Debate Tournament through advancing to key elimination rounds at the NSDA Arkansas District Tournament and the national virtual Last Change Qualifier Tournament.

The following Arkansas students have earned bids to the National Speech & Debate Tournament in the 2023-2034 academic year: 

https://www.tabroom.com/index/tourn/book.mhtml?tourn_id=29238

Tiffany Tucker, forensics & debate teacher at Cabot Junior High North, was named Outstanding Speech, Debate, & Theatre Educator by the National Federation of State High Schools Association (NFHS) on Jan. 14. Tucker was one of only 21 speech, debate & theatre educators to receive the award.

Tucker was officially presented the award at the Arkansas Forensics and Debate State Championships, which were hosted by the Arkansas Communication & Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA) at Central High School in Little Rock on April 12-13.

“I was so surprised to win this award,” Tucker said. “It is such an honor to be recognized by a national organization like the NFHS. I would not have been able to even be in the running for this without the wonderful support my colleagues and students of Cabot and ACTAA.”

A 2008 graduate of Cabot High School and former forensics student of Jane Morgan Balgavy, Tucker returned to her hometown in 2017 to teach/coach forensics & debate.

“Tiffany entered my classroom excited and energetic about forensics and debate and she's never lost that passion,” shared Balgavy. “It makes me so proud to see her thriving as a teacher, who is now a beloved mentor to so many. She's a working mom who dedicates her time and talent in helping others, and is so deserving of recognition. I know there will be many more students and teachers who are supported, taught and loved by Tiffany Tucker!”

“Mrs. Tucker truly embodies what it means to be a teacher in the arts. Not only has her endless knowledge had a huge impact on students in the academic setting, but her passion for speech and debate has given students a voice and purpose,” commented former student Logan Williams (‘23) on learning of Tucker’s national honor.

In September 2023, Tucker was named ACTAA Teacher of the Year and serves as the professional development coordinator for the state’s communication & theatre arts association.

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The Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA) is a non-profit professional organization serving educators. Its purpose is to promote communication, debate, forensics and theatre as an essential discipline, life skill, and art form. Additionally, ACTAA is the official sanctioning organization authorized by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) and National Federation of State High Schools Association (NFHS) to govern interscholastic speech and debate competition in Arkansas.

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Newly installed ACTAA President Zackery Tucker invites members to join in developing an action plan centered on four themes:

• reflect on our purpose;
• increase our impact;
• expand our voice; and
• increase our ability to adapt.

The purpose of the action plan is to focus association work and inspire conversations on how membership can contribute to achieving ACTAA's vision of a “future where every student In Arkansas has the opportunity to be transformed through participation in communication, debate, and theatre arts." 

Full message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vQTpw6JRVc

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At the Arkansas Forensics and Debate State Championships at Central High School in Little Rock on April 12-13, Bentonville theatre teacher Brandon Box-Higdem vacated his role as president of the state’s communication and theatre arts association after three years.

In addition to serving a traditional two-year term as president of the Arkansas Communication & Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA), Box-Higdem accepted the position a year and a half early following the resignation of his predecessor due to medical concerns.

Under Box-Higdem’s leadership, the Arkansas Communication & Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA) underwent significant positive changes, including a rebranding, the adoption of core values, equity and vision statements, restructuring of the Board of Directors, and the association’s 501(c)3 status, setting a promising trajectory for the future.

“Providing more opportunities for underrepresented voices will be the hallmark of his tenure,” remarked incoming ACTAA President Zackery Tucker. “Brandon’s leadership has been focused on providing more opportunities for members to be engaged in the business of ACTAA and to highlight our state’s talented students.”

Since reorganizing as a speech and drama teachers’ organization in 1936, the presidential gavel passes leaders during the awards ceremony at the state tournament in April. Zackery Tucker, dean of students at Arkansas State University - Beebe, assumed a two-year term as ACTAA President at the ceremony.

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The Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association (ACTAA) is a non-profit professional organization serving educators. Its purpose is to promote communication, debate, forensics and theatre as an essential discipline, life skill, and art form. Additionally, ACTAA is the official sanctioning organization authorized by the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) and National Federation of State High Schools Association (NFHS) to govern interscholastic speech and debate competition in Arkansas.