Debate Going Swimmingly

Debate is a balance of contrasts: coaches ask students to be formally dressed, but relaxed in manner, formulaically prepared but flexibly organized, precisely descriptive, but using layman’s terms, mercilessly cutting in argumentation, but respectful of the opposing bench. By late November, nourished by continuously navigating the middle path through these contrasts, like adult salmon swimming up from the briny estuary, leaping up the stainless steel fish ladders to the freshwater spawning streams above, determined debaters are hungry for fresh competition. Fecund with comparative knowledge of world governments of the left and right, scaled by comparative weighing of relative harms, and wary of the eddy currents of logical fallacies, many of our debaters find themselves in the still waters of their spawning stream, where they hatched some time ago. Thankfully, the spawning cycle debate analogy ends, as, rather than digging a redd and depositing eggs to be fertilized, our debaters are shoring up their strength after a term full of bested challenges: the UVIC Invitational was at the end of September, where Freya P & Quin P, Kameel A & Rowland L, and Katie L & Sebastian EG took top honours in the senior, junior and Grade 8 categories respectively. They’re all great chum(s). The ShawMUN on October 29, saw nine of our students earn outstanding delegate, and similar awards for our Model UN portion of our program, an excellent coho(rt). In early November, our three Public Speaking students, Kennedy M, Jessica W, and Amelia H all placed well in the International Public Speaking Championships, hosted in Boston, MA.  Because of their efforts, Amelia is first runner up for the World’s team in Shanghai. This event will happen in the Spring. After the Winter break, debaters will be ready for their next contest, in the form of the Regional Debate Tournament in February. We hope they will figuratively sock a few in the eye.