Schools
Charlestown High School Debate Team Makes Its Mark At The Season Opener
With 19 debaters overall, Charlestown finished strong in each division while taking home four Top Speaker Awards.
Article and photos courtesy of Boston Debate League:
At the first Boston Debate League tournament of the season, over 400 BPS high school and middle school students spent their weekend debating some of the most pressing issues facing this country today. Up from 180 students at the first tournament last year, a record number of Boston’s youth engaged in ninety-minute-long, evidence-rich debates against their peers throughout the city.
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“Students love debate,” said one BPS teacher. “Debate fosters the students’ natural curiosity, their ability to reason from multiple points of view, and taps into the creative energy of the students’ minds and hearts.”
The tournament was held on October 21 and 22 and was hosted by English High School in Jamaica Plain. Charlestown High School’s debate team, led by coaches James Soares and Sylvia Witlin, proved to be a force at the tournament, with students receiving awards in all three divisions.
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Out of the 200 novice debaters in the tournament, Jonathan Berganza won the 3rd place Speaker Award, and Anthony Hickes finished 22nd. Hicks also advanced to the quarterfinals with his partner Lisa Phung, while teammates Princess Mansaray and Khudeja Begum reached the semifinals in the Junior-Varsity division. Mansaray also won a Speaker Award, placing 14th among the other JV debaters. In the Varsity division, Brandy Giles finished 11th in the Speaker Awards.
About BDL:
The Boston Debate League (BDL) is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with the Boston Public Schools (BPS), supporting academic debate teams in high schools and middle schools and training teachers to make debate a regular classroom practice. We currently work in 15 schools to provide our Evidence-Based Argumentation curriculum and support 17 school debate teams. Peer-reviewed research demonstrates that students who join their debate team are 42% more likely to graduate high school, a number that jumps to 70% for African-American males, a demographic that is very difficult to reach. The BDL brings together an active community of students, teachers, administrators, and community leaders devoted to improving the education and life skills of disadvantaged urban youth in Boston.