New Season Underway

Coming off the first national championship in school history, the Woodward Academy Debate Team is gearing up for another season of intense competition.

This year’s national high school policy debate topic challenges students to research and prepare arguments related to America’s transportation infrastructure. The resolution calls on the affirmative to defend that the federal government substantially increase its investment in transportation infrastructure in the United States. Negative teams are tasked with countering this case for expanded federal investment. Throughout the season, debates will center on issues involving the economy, jobs/unemployment, competitiveness, the role of government, the balance of power between the federal government and the states, the political effects of infrastructure programs, and much more.

In preparation for the season, many of the squad’s returning students spent parts of their summers working on debate at institutes and workshops. Rising seniors Alex Duner, Zoi Rosado, and Karthik Srinivasan attended the Hoya-Spartan Scholars program at Georgetown University and Michigan State University; rising sophomores Mia Gill, Meera Gorjala, and Sahil Patel attended the Emory National Debate Institute at Emory University; and rising sophomore Charlie Paine attended the Georgia Debate Institute at the University of Georgia.

The opening novice recruiting meeting took place during the first week of school. The first official practice for novice (first-year) debaters will be on Wednesday, August 22nd from 3:45-6:00PM in the basement of Woodward Hall. All students are welcome to attend even if they missed the recruiting meeting.

The squad’s first tournament of the season is the National Earlybird hosted by Wake Forest University on September 7-9 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. To keep up-to-date with the team, keep checking out this website and follow us on Twitter @woodwarddebate.