Katherine Johnson Students Debate If Patriots Went To War Prematurely

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Students from Katherine Johnson Middle School in Fairfax City debated on Monday whether the colonists should've delayed the start of the American Revolution and not severed ties with Great Britain in 1775.

This was the second year in a row that students have participated in an organized debate as part of Bob Long's eighth-grade civics class.

"Regardless of whether you major in nuclear physics or if you want to be a mechanic, you still have to know how to read write, research and speak," Long said. "This is giving them a taste of that in a formal environment to know what it's going to be like when they go and get their first job."

Before coming to Katherine Johnson three years ago, Long had taught at A.G. Wright Middle School in Stafford. For 16 years, he oversaw that school's eighth-grade debate program there. Every Stafford County Middle School had a debate program, with teams traveling to other schools to compete.

To come up with the topic of this year's debate, Long reached out to one of his former students, who happens to be the daughter of KJMS Principal Tammara Hanna Silipigni.

"Bregan was one of my better debaters," Long said. "She was awesome."

Long explained to Bregan that he wanted a topic that would go well with his class' discussion of the founding documents. She suggested looking at it from a loyalist and patriot perspective, saying that the patriots went to war prematurely with Great Britain.

"It ties into our unit with the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Magna Carta, all these different founding documents that the Founding Fathers threw together and came up with the notion of American government," he said.

Students were divided up into teams of three, with one side proposing that American colonists went to war prematurely with Great Britain and the other arguing in opposition.

The first two speakers from each team took turns presenting their side of the argument and then had to defend their position by answering questions posed by the other team. The last speaker from each team then presented the final rebuttal for their side.

Long invited members of the community to judge the debates. On Monday morning, former Fairfax City Mayor David Meyer and Patch editor Michael O'Connell served judged the first two teams from Long's sixth period civics class.

Teams from his eighth period civics class were scheduled to debate later in the afternoon. The remaining students will have their chance to compete during two more rounds of debates on Friday and the following Wednesday.