MS & US Debate Update

On December 2nd, 32 MS debaters participated in 50 debates at two separate loctions in Manhattan.

Our MS teams did exceptionally well - we had two undefeated 5-0 teams (the top two teams in the Empire Division tournament), as well as 2 of the 3 top speaker awards and a first and second place school award for percentage of wins and total wins. At the Big Apple event, two of our 6th grade teams earned team awards and several of our debaters also earned top speaker awards. Hackley also earned a top school award. A 5th grade team debating for the first time went 2-2 in their opening tournament!

The US Public Forum team made strong showings at back-to-back November tournaments. At Scarsdale High School, freshmen Ben Aybar and Ben Kirsch debated in their first tournament and earned a 5-1 record, placing in the top 5 for beginning debaters. Sophomore Alex Evangelidis and junior Max Mallett went 3-3, and juniors Philip Bonanno and Tucker Wilke advanced to the octofinal round. The following weekend, students travelled to Chicago to compete in a prominent national tournament. Sophomore Alex Evangelidis and junior Max Mallett posted an impressive 4-3 record, and juniors Philip Bonanno and Tucker Wilke had an incredible showing as they advanced to the quarterfinal round and cemented their qualification for the national championship in April.

During the weekend of December 2nd at Princeton, sophomores Neil Singh and Jared Tilliss and Madeline Zuckerman and Max Rosenblum both finished with winning records at 4-3 in an extremely competitive Varsity Public Forum field. These debaters have improved dramatically over the past year and can hold their own with the top PF debate teams from around the country.

All in all, it was a great month for US Public Forum!

There is a 1-day Parli debate event taking place in Princeton Junction (@ The Wilberforce School) on Saturday, December 16th. This is the HS Parli league we founded last year. The day will include 4 rounds of switch-side debate. The two impromptu topics are:

There are multiple upcoming events in January and February for Public Forum as well as a MS debate on January 20th. E-mail Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Gilbert for more details.