Catholic graduates from Bountiful High School after excelling in speech, debate and theater

Friday, Jun. 05, 2015

BOUNTIFUL — Alice Miller graduated the Sterling Scholar in speech, debate and theater for the Bountiful High School Class of 2015 on June 4.

Miller, a member of Saint Olaf Parish, who attended Saint Olaf Catholic School from fourth through sixth grade, also wore a Scholar of Distinction medal for exceeding the amount of Advanced Placement honors and International Baccalaureate courses required for the International Baccalaureate program. To qualify for this honor, a student must take at least four AP and IB courses; Miller has taken AP and IB courses in Spanish and history as well as in other subjects throughout high school.

Miller joined musical theater at Bountiful High her sophomore year and was in a musical production, “but I found it wasn’t for me,” she said adding that she wished she would have joined the debate team sooner. 

However, she has been a member of the Salt Lake Children’s Theater since the sixth grade, performing Shakespeare productions during the summer. Mary Miller, Alice Miller’s mother, encouraged her to get involved in the Children’s Theater because it was a good place for her to learn teamwork, to be on a stage, to learn to follow directions, “and she was so good at speaking,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much she would enjoy it.”

Miller has performed lead parts at the Children’s Theater such as Mistress Page in the Merry Wives of Windsor, Maria in Twelfth Night, and Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing. Performing in Shakespearian plays is where she learned to speak clearly and enunciate her words so the audience could understand her, she said, which prompted her to join the debate team her junior year. 

She also joined the debate team, encouraged by a friend so he would have someone to debate with, she said. “Debate gives you a lot of skills that will help you later in life, such as the ability to communicate a point in a way that is both logical, but also takes into account emotions. I’ve also met a lot of smart and interesting people, and it has given me confidence.”

Miller served as the debate captain her senior year, training novice debaters how to compete at events “not only well, but also letting them know they are capable,” she said. “We will have about 50 kids sign up for beginning debate and the next semester there are only about three that are still interested. We teach, usually sophomores, to believe in their abilities. We’ve had some who rely on the debate team for their social life; they become friends with the advanced debaters and gain confidence and friendship with the team.” 

As a novice debater, Miller appreciated the compliments from the advanced debaters when she won a debate, she said. “It was nurturing and gave me more confidence.” 

Among Miller’s many debate awards is her first: Second place at the 4A state competition for Impromptu debate. She also received a first place Caesar Cicero award for a Lincoln Douglas debate her junior year and two Caesar Cicero awards this year: one for odd impromptu in which she was given three topics, where she picked two and had two minutes to prepare to speak for five minutes. 

“I had to combine the topics ‘Species of Alien Cats Found on Mars’ and Angel Firefighters Save Family from House Fire.’ It was insane, but fun,” she said. “It was a lot of storytelling, making connections and displaying the information in a way that made sense.” 

Miller will major in biology at the University of Utah, where she also wants to join the debate team, she said. She also will continue teaching religious education at St. Olaf Parish, where she has taught kindergarten CCD for four years.