CONGRATULATIONS WOLVERINES: FIRST PLACE IN DEBATE!!

Congratulations on an AMAZING first tournament!  We are so very proud of all our participants.  They overcame nervousness, fatigue, long periods of waiting and much traveling time to take home the win for Wilberforce! There were seven schools, 50 teams and 139 individual debaters present yesterday, and in addition to winning the tournament, our team scored some very impressive individual awards:

Individual Team Awards

3rd Place Team:  Gemma, Zoe and Athena

4th Place Team:  Evaline M. and Donald

6th Place Team:  Lily A., Jessie and Lea

8th Place Team:  Naomi, Richmond and Stella B.

Individual Speaker Awards  (Given to top 20 of 139 Speakers)

Naomi: 16th Place

Lea: 3rd Place

Evaline M.: FIRST PLACE AND GOLDEN GAVEL!!!

Thanks so very much to all the parents and grandparents for making the long trek to Northern NJ yesterday, and a special thanks to those who volunteered for judge training -- ensuring our ability to participate in future tournaments.  Thank you to Maria, Katherine and Joshua for giving up an entire Saturday, from pre-dawn to well after dusk, to judge rounds and support our team in so many ways.  

And finally, we express our deep gratitude to Georgie, Joshua and Katherine for their tireless instruction these past few months -- You have given generously of your time and talent to teach our middle schoolers the art of debating and case writing.  And thanks to Abby Readlinger for getting everyone off to a great "jump start" with the debate camp she ran this summer. 

We are so very blessed at Wilberforce to have this beautiful debate family. Our high schoolers truly create a culture of positive debating by passing down the wisdom gained by their experience to the next generation, teaching, encouraging, and demonstrating through their example how to listen well, think for yourself, and engage positively with those who disagree. They are the soul of our team and the reason for its success. Thank you!