The teacher prepares the material for her next classes, calmly working as her keyboard and the air conditioner provide the only sounds in the room. Above her, rows upon rows of trophies sit atop her cabinet, a reminder of the legacy that she now carries upon her shoulders.

Bianca Rocha is the new speech and debate teacher and debate team coach, replacing Dawn Azbill-Smith in teaching oral communication essentials while leading and mentoring in UIL Speech and Debate competitions. Originally from Brownsville, Texas, Rocha said she did not have many opportunities to participate in speech and debate events in school.

“I’ve always been interested in debate,” Rocha said. “I always wanted to learn more about it. It wasn’t really common in the [Rio Grande] Valley, so there wasn’t a team for it. They didn’t offer that specific class, but I’ve seen it in live shows, or the ways they would demonstrate it in YouTube clips, or the way they would demonstrate it through the [National Speech and Debate Association]. I’m glad now as the teacher and the coach to have that experience here.” 

Rocha graduated from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with a bachelor’s degree in Communications Studies. She spent her first three years teaching Professional Communication at La Joya High School in La Joya, Texas. Her move to Georgetown, Texas, in 2022 was the first time Rocha had ever moved out of the Rio Grande Valley.

“That transition has been exciting at times,” Rocha said. “Other times, it feels a little overwhelming just starting somewhere new in general. Even then, I take these little moments [as] something I can build upon, something that will help me get better as an individual and as a teacher.” 

While Rocha was looking for new job opportunities, Leander Independent School District was having trouble replacing empty positions left by teacher shortages. With employment available here and at Leander High School, Rocha was able to secure a job at both schools. A days are spent at LHS while B days are spent at Cedar Park.

“That way, the [debate] class can still exist,” Rocha said. “And there can still be a debate team, because without a teacher they won’t be able to [form] a team or [get] a sponsor in general. Not only do I have the two classes to teach, but I have two debate teams, and both teams have been successful in different events and different tournaments.”

She manages the registration and budgeting of both debate teams, signing them up for competitions and handling payments for their fees, transportation and amenities. However, the varsity members of each team help in tasks like bringing new members and helping competitors prepare. In addition, Rocha has the teams interact with and learn from each other, such as transporting them on the same vehicle and having them give each other advice. This is despite knowing they will eventually compete with one another.

“I am [still] here to support them and to guide them through that process,” Rocha said. “Hopefully they can learn from each other as well, to grow as debaters and to grow as people, while competing in these events.”

Aside from finding debate interesting, according to Rocha, she also went down the speech and debate route for the challenge that it presented compared to teaching Professional Communication. Now in her first year of taking that challenge head-on, Rocha says an experience with public speaking in college taught her to persevere through difficult situations like these. Out of an entire class, she was the only one to receive full marks on an assignment where students made tutorials on random tasks that included a video. For her, it was playing the D note on a guitar, and it was a video she redid over and over. 

“I think that really taught me that yes, that assignment was very stressful, but I pulled through,” Rocha said. “I persevered. I was persistent in that assignment there, and that motivated me with my other classes to want to get summa cum laude when I graduated. So that kind of led me on the path of continuing to improve who I am as a student, who I am as a person, and who I want to be later on in the future.” 

Debate team Captain, senior Delaney McClure, says the team anticipates working with Rocha in preparing for their competitions and future plans.

“I’m excited to have Rocha as a teacher this year because I really want to create a team that’s more involved within the competition circuit and the community this year,” McClure said. “Mrs. Rocha is definitely dedicated to that, which I appreciate.”

According to Rocha, maintaining the legacy that Azbill-Smith and previous successes by the school’s debate team left behind is another motivational factor which causes her to take on the challenge.

“Upholding what [Azbill-Smith] established is the challenge,” Rocha said. “[The challenge is] upholding what the previous teachers have done and maintaining that structure, [and] making sure that all students still have all of the opportunities for success. It’s using the inspiration of what they left behind, but building on that for this new year and hoping that the students can grow [and] learn those new opportunities [so that] new students come join the team and they can see all the trophies that they’ve won. They’ll learn the skills that they need to be successful.”