The Final tournament of the Garden State Debate League was held at Cedar Hill Prep School on Saturday, March 17th, 2018. Bill Bowman from the Franklin Reporter visited the school to cover the event. 36 students, 12 teams from Cedar Hill Prep School debated at the Middle School Garden State Debate League. There were 47 teams, 150 students from Grades 6-8 debating on 3 topics – Libraries are Obsolete, End Daylight Savings Time and US must send astronauts to the Moon again.
Franklin Reporter correspondent Bill Bowman interviewed a few of our students and this is what they had to say:
Among them is 7th Grader Janie Mallari,said she liked debating because “it’s very interesting and its fun.” “For me it’s like getting together with your team and discussing stuff,” she said. “It’s good overall, and the best part at the end is winning.”
Lilyana Hopkins, an 8th Grader, said she gets many benefits from debating. “Debate betters my team-playing skills and I enjoy expressing my thoughts and feelings on different political topics that are going on right now, and it helps me to feel like I have a say in whats going on right now,” she said. “I feel like what I have to say needs to be heard by others.”
Andrew Johnson, a 6th Grader said that debate “helps you in lots of real-life skills like public speaking, and also it’s good to help toward high school applications.”
Arnav Upadhyay, also a 6th Grader, said debating “builds up confidence in each person. We have people who surround each other and help each other, which really boosts confidence in everybody.”
Matthew Clarke, a 7th Grader, said he likes debating because “it’s really fun arguing against other people.” “You can get really energetic,” he said. “You can release all your anger onto the opponent.” Clarke said his favorite debate topic in this tournament was “libraries are obsolete.” “We were on the opposite side, saying they were not obsolete,” he said. “A lot of people go there for community gatherings and to get free wifi, and it provides a community place.”
Cedar Hill Prep School won the award for the most wins. Great work Cedar Hill Prep School Debaters!
