Sandburg seniors are Public Forum Debate State Champions

Sandburg High School Debate Team brought home the First Place Public Forum Debate trophy from the IHSA State Debate Championships at University of Illinois, Springfield. The tournament winning team of seniors Ayyan Chaudhry and James Hughes defeated Fremd High School in the final round.

Sandburg also had two other teams who competed in the winner's bracket: the team of Eric Kenes and Victoria Granato advanced to the semi-final round, and the team of Toma Solovey and Bella Wrobel advanced to the quarter-final round. In addition, Toma Solovey and James Hughes were awarded spots on the All-State Debate Team.

The topic of debate for the weekend was RESOLVED: On balance, the current Authorization for Use of Military Force gives too much power to the president.

Other members of the Sandburg team who competed include:

• Public Forum Debate: Kaitlin Walsh & Maya Kovacevic,
• Lincoln Douglas Debate: Sarah Han, Patricia Wilk, Samiyah Moon
• Congressional Debate: Dan Askounis (semi-finalist), Savanna Ayala, Maria Kalogris, Lizzy Kenes, Nick Ahrens, Nick Annerino (semi-finalist), John Schwartz, Areeb Abubaker, Maansi Bhan, Laura Kilikevicius, Haneen Shatat, Josie Mendez

The team is coached by Lainee McGraw, Scott McGraw, and Angelo Cavoto. This is the 7th State Championship for the Sandburg Debate Team.