MS Debaters Compete at National Tournament

On April 27 & 28, six Hackley 8th graders, Mason N., Amy K., Zara Y., Paul E., Bella W., and Arushi C., competed in two Public Debate Program Championship tournaments outside of Los Angeles.
Hackley has been involved with the Public Debate Program since 2011 and was one of the founding schools bringing this format of debate to NY in the Fall of 2011. These students traveled to California to compete in both the MS Southern California Championship event as well as the HS California Championship tournament, featuring the strongest MS and HS Parli debaters from the region. Mason, Amy, and Zara went 5-0 at the MS event, finishing 4th out of 120 teams and just missing the final round on points. Both teams took rounds off of HS seniors in the HS event the next day, proving their formidable debate skills against students 3 and 4 years older.

The students did substantial research on 9 separate topics, including complex economic topic such as social security and farm subsidies, as well as technology topics like facial recognition and autonomous weapons. All in all, these MS debaters continue to represent Hackley well on the national stage.

The final MS tournament will take place on May 18th at the West End Secondary school.
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