Photo courtesy of Monica Sargent.
First row, from left: Theo Simonton, Fletcher Nunnelley, Emily Bebenek. Second row: Ben Harris, Jeff Schultz, Marielle Cornes, Harrison Hitson. Third row: John Paul Butrus, Pavel Shirley, Elizabeth Wood Weas, Griffin Darden, Chloe Kinderman.
In June, the Mountain Brook debate team spent a week competing in the prestigious National Speech and Debate Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah. The team scored highest in the newest division: middle school debate. The team took home semifinalist awards in both public forum and Lincoln-Douglas debate. In policy debate the team advanced to quarterfinals. Marielle Cornes and Harrison Hitson worked together in public forum while Chloe Kinderman and Ben Harris competed in the Policy Division. Pavel Shirley struck out on his own as a solo debater in Lincoln-Douglas. In the high school Lincoln-Douglas rising senior John Martin Weed made it past preliminary rounds and was eventually named one of the top 40 debaters in the nation.
A year ago the MBJH debate team was nonexistent, but over the past season the junior high debate program merged with the Mountain Brook High School program to compete at tournaments from Washington, D.C, to Los Angeles. The combined team was a force to be reckoned with on the national stage. The MBJH team went on to win the Junior High School of Excellence award for most wins in debate rounds.
The Mountain Brook debate team had no plans to rest after their victory at nationals. Instead, the debaters planned to attend summer debate camps across the country in order to keep their skills sharp and develop new strategies for next year.
– Submitted by Monica Sargent.
