Payton Hamilton is a talented, confident, caring leader of the McPherson High School debate team. An accomplished one as well, as evidenced last weekend in Wichita when the senior shared affirmative team duties with junior Lucy Bowman and helped the Bullpups win their second consecutive Class 4A four-speaker state championship.
 
It was a satisfying conclusion to four memorable years of debate for Hamilton, whose involvement in the activity helped ease the transition to a new school when her family moved from Michigan to McPherson prior to her freshman year.
 
“It definitely was a change, but overall it’s been so beneficial,” said Hamilton, the CapFed® True Blue® Student of the Week. “I genuinely love the communities that I’m part of in the high school and with my friends.”
 
Hamilton has carried a 4.0 grade-point average through high school while racking up achievements in debate and forensics. She also serves as a section leader while playing clarinet for the MHS band.
 
“There’s a reason why Payton is the captain of the team,” said Aaron Schopper, the head of debate and speech at McPherson. “She is one of the most tenacious, mature kids who knows the work. She understands how to do the work. She understands how to do the prep.
 
“She does a really good job of building up the younger competitors and encouraging them because being a new competitor in debate is really hard.”
 
Hamilton was once in their shoes, drawn to debate in part due to the influence of attorneys in her family. Schopper, who first met Hamilton at a debate clinic before she entered MHS, said she showed early aptitude in her technical abilities.
 
“I played sports when I was younger, but I’ve always been interested in doing more academic-leaning things,” Hamilton said. “Once I joined debate, I fell in love with it.
 
“I was OK at it my freshman year, but I just put in a lot of time and hours, as does anyone who’s passionate about it. For me, I found a community I fell in love with and I felt like I belonged, so I really wanted to devote some time and attention to it so I could fulfill that passion and see where it would take me.”
 
The 2020-21 school year served Hamilton a curveball in her development – the COVID-19 pandemic – which left her studying remotely during a stretch while others attended school in a hybrid format. Hamilton used the opportunity to hone her research skills, particularly in cutting evidence.
 
“She had to overcome a lot,” Schopper said. “She was still able to out-debate people who were in the classroom and actively learning.”
 
Early in her junior year, Hamilton and Bowman first competed together when their debate partners weren’t able to attend a tournament. It marked the start of a formidable partnership that helped McPherson’s debate team climb to the top of 4A.
 
“In order to be a good affirmative debater, you actually have to be an excellent negative debater,” Schopper said of the duo. “You need to be able to anticipate and predict what people might argue against.”
 
Hamilton said like-minded thinking also aided her success with Bowman.
 
“She’s someone who is incredibly smart and extremely talented,” Hamilton said. “Being partners with her was not only beneficial to me not only in debate but in my personal life. She quickly became one of my closest friends.
 
“Being partners with her definitely fostered the love I have for debate, because seeing someone who was just as passionate about it as I am and who cares as much if not more about the success of the team has helped me grow as a leader.”
 
Hamilton has also been part of McPherson’s forensics team, which has won the last two 4A speech titles. She finished fourth in informative speech as a junior and sixth in both informative and extemporaneous speaking as a sophomore.
 
Hamilton’s involvement in a variety of performing arts activities – a bond she shares with Bowman and another member of McPherson’s four-speaker championship team, Sam Houston – gave her great pride when the Kansas State High School Activities Association recognized McPherson with its 2021-22 Performing Arts School of Excellence Award last fall.
 
“For me, it was just such a great honor, especially being in Kansas,” Hamilton said. “Athletics are so highly prioritized – which I’m not saying they shouldn’t be because they’re fantastic and develop so much in so many kids – but the performing arts are often underrated and not really prioritized as much.
 
“To be able to get that recognition, it’s so valuable being told on a legitimate level that what we’re doing matters. I think it also lays a foundation for kids to come along and be part of these activities and have a community that they can be part of.”
 
To foster that environment, Hamilton and a couple fellow students spent last summer re-designing Schopper’s classroom. The students painted, decorated and more.
 
“We have a little chill room where they put rugs and bean bags for kids who just needed some space away,” Schopper said. “She saw a lot of value for the team having a place where people can get away and reset themselves and be among their peers.”
 
Hamilton is considering several options for her future, but says she is leaning toward studying social work at Wichita State. It seems to be a natural next step for someone who finds joy in a servant leadership role.
 
“For me, and I know it can sound cliché, but it’s about what can I do for other people?” Hamilton said. “Even in the smallest manner, if maybe I’ve had an impact on someone, that is what I love to do and what fulfills me. And that’s maybe why I’m looking at social work, to carry that out past high school and past my involvement with these activities.”