LHS debate team wins Elite 8 berth in international competition
LAKEWOOD – A trio of debaters from Lakewood High School Lakewood High and their coach made the finals of a prestigious international competition, winning an all-expense paid trip to New York City.
The group’s advance to the Elite 8 round of the Bickel & Brewer/New York University International Public Policy Forum follows three years of near misses for LHS debate teams. In the past three years, LHS teams advanced to the first-round of single elimination competition, which was limited to the top 32 teams among 340 high school teams that entered the IPPF competition, representing 42 states and 36 foreign countries.
None of those three teams made the finals.
The LHS 2011 team – Alexander Fan, Alexandra Nilles and William Crimmins – will compete in the IPPF finals April 9 in New York City for a top prize of $10,000 and the IPPF’s 10th World Championship title. Their teacher/coach is Gregory Davis.
“For the past five months, the Lakewood High School team has produced well-researched, persuasive written scholarship,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer and founder of the IPPF. “In the IPPF Finals, Lakewood will have the opportunity to supplement that scholarship with oral advocacy – in a unique and demanding test against some of the best debate teams in the world.”
The IPPF competition is the only international contest that provides high school students an opportunity to participate in both written and oral debates centered on public policy issues.
In advancing to the final round, the LHS team and others compiled a written essay addressing the topic: “Resolved: NATO military operations in Afghanistan are not justified.” The essays were evaluated by a review committee that determined the top 32 teams in October.
Those 32 teams advanced into a single-elimination, written debate contest. Each team was assigned a position for or against the question, and the schools then sent position papers back and forth via e-mail. Another panel of judges reviewed those essays in mid-December, when the judges who selected the final eight teams.
The Lakewood High School defeated Ecole Internationale de Geneve in Switzerland to advance to the top 32 round, then topped The American College of Sofia in Bulgaria in to advance to the Elite 8 and earn the all-expenses-paid trip to New York.
The IPPF Finals will focus on oral advocacy.
The competition will be at the Harold Pratt House, where “some of the world’s foremost experts in law, business, debate, and politics will select the winners of rounds of debate,” according to a spokesperson for Bickel and Brewer.
The final two teams will make their respective cases before a panel of judges that includes Bickel & Brewer Partner William A. Brewer III, NYU President John Sexton and National Forensic League Executive Director Scott Wunn. The winning school takes home the $10,000 grand prize and the “Bickel & Brewer Cup.” The reigning IPPF Champion is Team Singapore.
The IPPF semifinals and final debate can be seen via a live broadcast live from New York City at http://www.bickelbrewer.com/ippf Saturday, April 9. The final debate starts at 1:30 p.m. MST and viewers can cast a vote for the winning school.
