York debate continues to impress!

On February 26-27, four York students, Hayden L., Leah S., Kumkum A., and Grace PH., competed in the Junior Provincial Public Speaking National Qualifiers. Coached by senior school student Shoshana I., these students took the tournament by storm! Hayden placed 2nd for her speech about the overpopulation of stray dogs in the Carribbean, 5th in impromptu debate and 9th for impromptu speaking where a competitor has just 2 minutes to prepare a 5-minute speech! Kumkum placed 4th for her persuasive speech about chocolate extinction, 5th for her interpretive reading, 6th for impromptu speaking and 10th for impromptu debate. She placed in the top ten in every category! Grace placed 1st for her interpretive reading from the book “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” by Jenny Lawson. Leah put up an incredible fight against some difficult competition, performing an interpretive reading of Roald Dahl’s “Little Red Riding Hood” and “The Three Little Pigs.” Overall, Kumkum placed 4th, Hayden 6th and Grace 7th, earning them all a spot to represent York and Ontario at the Junior National Public Speaking Championships later this year. We are so proud!

On February 26-28, 4 York Debate captains, or 2 York teams, the team of Stu B. and Dylan B. and the team of Ruby G. and Ben D. competed in the Senior Provincial Debate National Qualifiers. Both teams broke to Semi-finals with the team of Ruby G. and Ben D. placing 2nd in preliminary rounds and Stu B. and Dylan B. placing 4th in preliminary rounds. Furthermore, Ruby G. and Ben D. placed 4th and 5th speakers in the province, respectably. Because of their successes, both teams will be representing York and Ontario at the Senior National Debate World Qualifiers later this year. Congratulations to all!