Middle School Debate Team Dominates Fieldston Competition
Congratulations are in order: Earlier this month, the Dalton Middle School Debate Team were named the winners of the New York Debate League March tournament at Fieldston!
The three-person team of Michael Warren ‘30, Zach Kumar ‘30, and Elliot Sorett ‘29 won the top prize, and Penelope Koehl ‘29, Victoria Meyer ‘29, and Gabriel Alexander ‘29 were third-place winners.
The topics for the debate tournament were:
Middle School English classes should prioritize the classics rather than contemporary works.
National service should be mandatory in the United States.
The President of the United States should not have the power to pardon.
Additionally, the team won a large number of individual speaker awards:
13th speaker - Victoria Meyer ‘29
12th speaker - Zach Kumar ‘30
8th speaker - Alexandra Tucker ‘29
6th speaker - Meher Jetley ‘30
5th speaker - Risha Agarwal ‘30
1st speaker - Penelope Koehl ‘29
The team is now preparing for the April 26 championship. Special thanks to the coaches, including the High School students who volunteered to help, and parents who helped spend their Saturday judging debates.
Submitted by Debate Coaches Luke Sullivan and Lydia Hogarth