The St. Joe’s Debate Team poses for a photo following the University of Windsor Richard Peddie High School Debate Tournament. Photo via Mr. Sylvestre
This past Friday the St. Joseph's Parliamentary Debate Team traveled to the Odette School of Business Building for the University of Windsor Richard Peddie Debate Tournament. Lead by Mr. Sylvestre, five Novice teams and four Varsity teams from St. Joe’s met in the early morning and debated all day in an interesting, fun-filled competition against other local high schools.
The day started off with a general gathering, the Opening Ceremonies, which included introductions and an outline of how the day was scheduled. The Varsity teams (those who had debated in previous tournaments) then separated from the Novice teams. Both groups anxiously and excitedly waited as the organisers gave further directions and instructions. Then the debates began.
Grade nine debater, Kiara R., won the award for Best Overall Female Novice Speaker. Pictured with Sophia M.(left) and Sarah C.(right), the two University of Windsor business students that were this tournament’s directors. Photo by: Mr. Sylvestre
Leading up to this tournament, teams of the St. Joe’s Debate Team each prepared two topics that they would debate, and practised with other Laser teams to learn how to take the role of “government” and “opposition”. The Lasers’ hard work payed off on Friday, as the majority of the teams won their debates. “[I am] very proud of all the accomplishments of the debaters as St. Joe's continues to build its legacy as a debate powerhouse in the region,” said coach Mr. Sylvestre. “There's no "arguing" that the debate team's future is very promising.”
Typically, in the afternoons of a debate tournament at the University, teams are given two separate topics from the organisers themselves, of which the participants have no previous knowledge. Teams then have ten minutes to build their respective cases, depending on what side of the motion they were on (Government or Opposition). This year however, the tournament was running tight on time so there was only one “motion debate”. The topic for this debate was: “You are a 25-year old man. On your wedding day, you have the sudden urge to flee and pursue a business career in Europe. Do you do it?” Side Government was in favour of fleeing and pursuing the job in Europe, and Side Opposition was in favour of staying and getting married. It was a challenging topic, but the St. Joe’s teams did a great job of debating this spontaneous and unusual motion.
Overall, the day was a success for first-time and returning St. Joe’s debaters. “It was a great learning experience getting to watch some of the best schools debate,” said grade ten Josh B. “It was extremely educational and so much fun! [It was] an amazing event to be a part of,” said Portia, another member of the debate team.
Congratulations to all of the Lasers who participated in this event. A special mention goes to Kiara R. who received the award for Best Overall Female Novice Speaker of the day. Way to go Debate Team, keep it up!