A debate team

at Fayette County High School has won its regional championship and is

headed for state competition this weekend.

"I'm thinking

they could do very well," said Beverly Kelly, who coaches the team

along with Chris McCord. "I'm hoping they'll be able to go to All-State."

The team consists

of Josh Marsh, Matt Bilotta, Sharjeel Hooda and Billy Castillo.

The top two

teams at the State Tournament this Friday and Saturday will go to All-State

in March, she said.

They'll be

debating the topic that's been used across the state all this year, dealing

with the right to privacy. An affirmative team and a negative team from

FCHS square off with their counterparts from other schools and argue the

merits of increasing or decreasing privacy in four areas: consumer information,

medical records, employment, and search and seizure.

In addition

to statewide competition, FCHS debaters are thinking nationally as well,

said Kelly. Twelve team members will compete in National Forensic League

district tournaments Feb. 16 and 17, in hopes of qualifying for the national

tournament in Oklahoma City in June.

Also, team

members debated in district level tournaments of the Catholic National

Forensic League recently, and six qualified for the league's national

tournament in New York in May.

Castillo and

Hooda will debate in the area of policy. Also, Kahlilah Pagan has qualified

in the area of student congress; Mark Cook and Elaine Rosner will form

a duo-interpretation team, and Michael Peaden will compete in declamation,

interpreting a famous speech.