Whiz Kid: Eastside Catholic School's John Holt has Developed Into a Great Debater

Each week, Sammamish Patch will seek suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens and even sports teams who wow us with their accomplishments.

For the week ending Friday, June 3, we congratulate John Holt, a Sammamish resident who someday hopes to put his stellar speaking and analytical skills to use in national and global affairs. Congratulations!

Name, age: John Holt, 17.

School and Neighborhood: A junior at , he lives in Sammamish.

Accomplishments: A member of Eastside Catholic’s debate team, Holt made it to the semi-finals of the Catholic Forensic League’s National Championship tournament over Memorial Day weekend.

He also finished in the top 70 at the Tournament of Champions earlier in May and has qualified for the National Forensics League’s National Championships. 

Key to awesomeness: Holt first became interested in debate during the 2008 elections when he developed a real interest in civic issues and wanted to learn more about national and foreign affairs. 

“It’s just an interesting topic,” he said.

Holt has been involved with the debate team for two years now. “I just love doing it,” he said. 

The team has an intense schedule, sometimes practicing all day on weekends. If they compete well, the season can stretch from October to June. Holt feels the hard work pays off, though. He loves the kids he competes with and against and feels that he’s really developed his public speaking skills.

“It’s time well spent,” Holt said.

He considers the Israeli-Palestinian situation, agriculture and the U.S. economy to be his best debate subjects.

The team competes locally almost every weekend and travels to at least one national tournament a month.

Despite the rigorous schedule, hehas managed to keep his grades up and contribute as an athlete on Eastside Catholic's golf team.

One of the things Holt enjoys about debate competition is having to argue for a topic he may not particularly believe in or be overly familiar with.

“That’s a very fun situation to be put in,” he said.

He enjoys the adrenaline rush and the sense of accomplishment that can come with those situations.

Holt also likes the relationships he’s made with teammates and the people they regularly see at competitions.

“It actually really creates friendships across the country,” he added.

He has started to think about college and studying political science and hopes to one day work for the State Department. He also hopes he can continue to compete in debates.

“I’d love to do it in college,” he said.