In January, the middle schoolers were introduced to the new skill: impromptu debate, where students have just 30 minutes to prepare arguments with no outside research or use of computers or devices. The middle schoolers have risen to the challenge, and they showcased their incredible work at two debate competitions.

In January, the team traveled to Packer Collegiate to compete in a citywide ESU NYDL tournament. The team of Meher Jetley ‘30, Reha Agarwal ‘30, and Keila Vaitheeswaran ‘30 went undefeated and took first place. Dalton Debate members also received high individual scores, earning 2nd place (Teddy Glazek ‘30), 4th place (Jae Jinn ‘30), and 5th place (Sophie Yang ‘30) overall.

This past weekend, the team traveled to Hackley to compete in the last competition of the regular season. After two impromptu rounds and two traditional rounds of debate, the team of Seiji Brod ‘30, Amyra Kothari ‘30, and Michael Warren ‘30 took second place overall. Dalton speakers also dominated the individual awards, with Teddy Glazek ‘30, Juliette Rothfeld ‘31, Risha Agarwal ‘30, Hudson Moreno ‘30, Keila Vaitheeswaran ‘30, Amaya Chugani ‘31, and Lila Benaim ‘31 each earning individual recognition.

Congratulations to the entire Middle School Debate Team for their work!

Special thanks to the High School assistant coaches, without whom the success of this program would not be possible. These include Emmalyn Zuzunaga ‘26, Austin Gordon ‘26, Olivia Meyer ‘26, Gabriel Alexander ‘29, Arman Bickici ‘28, Michelle Jia ‘29, Penelope Koehl ‘29, Victoria Meyer ‘29, Gigi Robinson ‘29, Elliot Sorett ‘29, and Alexandra Tucker ‘29.