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Students Hone Debate Skills for Presidential Face-off

Posted in News on November 5th, 2008 with Comments Off

The North school conducted its first Presidential Debate on October 15. The debate’s focus was to inform students about the upcoming presidential election and the two primary candidates running for office. Students arguing for Democrat Barack Obama were Matthew Pitts (team captain), Katrina Clark, Tequisiana Flowe, Raisa Land and Tiara Fields. Republican John McCain was represented by Kenithia Hill (team captain), Dystaney Land, TJ Steed, Dimund Britton and Ashley Smith. It was also a great opportunity to introduce students the methods behind conducting debates and the benefits of being able to effectively debate. It is a way for students to learn problem solving skills, critical thinking, teamwork and the ability to respond quickly with intelligent responses. The judge’s panel consisted of Mr. Hollstein (moderator), Mrs. Harper, Ms. Kramer, Ms. Seemiler and Mr. Morton. They provided questions the students had to answer on behalf of their respective presidential candidate. Both teams did an incredible job and all of their hard work was obvious! At the debate’s conclusion, the student audience voted on which team best represented their candidate. It was a very close call, but the Obama team was better prepared.