Debate Students Achieve Success During Double Duty Online Tournaments

The weekend of November 22-23 was eventful for some of the Oakwood High School debate students. On Friday, senior Sydney Drouin competed in the John Lewis South Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL) Invitational in Novice Lincoln-Douglas debate. She debated the topic, "The United States Government Ought to Adopt a Wealth Tax," completing two rounds on Friday night and three more pre-elimination rounds on Saturday. Sydney won two of the five preliminary rounds, finishing the tournament ranked 38th out of 55 competitors.

On Saturday, two parliamentary teams faced off in two rounds at the Dempsey Cronin Memorial Invitational. Sophomores Bryce Smith-Keeney and Nate Carlson competed against juniors Nina Bryan and Kaitlyn Gomez on the topics "Social media platforms should prioritize combating misinformation even at the expense of user freedom of expression" and "Governments should prioritize artificial intelligence regulation to prevent misuse and promote ethical development." Bryce and Nate won both rounds, securing 1st place, while Nina and Kaitlyn earned 2nd place.

A special thank you goes to Tiffany Carlson, who volunteered her Saturday to judge three rounds of debate. Congratulations to all students on a successful online tournament weekend!

Sydney Drouin		Bryce Smith-Keeney		Nate Carlson
Nina Bryan				Kaitlyn Gomez