At 6:00 am Friday, November 1, participants in “congress” loaded the bus for Los Alamos with Ms Ontiveros. Their heads were surely swimming with Roberts Rules of Order and “legislation” that they and their competitors had written. I left with the 12:30 group, which really left at 12:35 because some of our debaters refused to miss their 5th period class, (“I didn’t want to miss any of Mr Kintinar’s class,” says Jessica Berry.) I walked up and down the isle of the bus and saw Jaimie Lin reading Economist magazines to prepare herself for her International Expository Speaking event (see previous result email), Coach Sheridan Johnson prepping speech competitors in their events, Jessica Bregman practicing her memorization, and a variety of other rather heady activities.
We arrived at the hotel 30 minutes before the first events, debaters and speakers piled out the bus to swiftly get themselves all gussied up for their events. Girls pull on stockings and pumps, boys tie ties. We arrived at Los Alamos High school with about 2 minutes to spare before the first events. Competitors ran swiftly between events; Georgia Purcell gathered burritos for dinner that our teammates ate on the run. I could smell the sweet fragrance of adrenaline until we all shuffled into our hotel rooms at 11 pm.
By 7:00 am all 33 speakers and debaters and the coaches were back at the school and the smell of adrenaline was laced with coffee. Samsara Durvasula was excited (yes, excited) to complete some trig proofs with me at 7:30 am; English students were watching a required movie (yes, at 7:30 am) and discussing the ideas in the movie. Copies of the AP Bio text were opened as our debaters and speakers read between their rounds.
Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Jess Berry. Topic: Resolved: In the United States criminal justice system, truth-seeking ought to take precedence over attorney-client privilege. With the maturity and poise of Elizabeth Warren and the vocabulary of a seasoned speaker, Jess stands before the judge and begins her case: “Rape culture is perpetuated by our system of attorney-client privilege; insights from the German system of justice, founded after an era of genocide, could help us develop a system that allows truth seeking…” Well-read, articulate, brilliant, creative, and able to moderate her speeches to fit the skills of the judges, Jess wins the first sets of rounds handily, even earning a perfect speaking score from the experienced Los Alamos coach.
Suddenly, it was evening and the results of the two-day tournament were being announced. The highlight for everyone from AA was when the Novice Policy Debate results were being announced. Eighth Graders Harrison Bay and Tari Muneri were standing poised facing the large audience as one of the top 6 teams. When their names were called last as victors of the entire tournament in Novice Policy Debate, the house came down with cheers and enthusiastic noise. This was the first time Harrison and Tari had debated together; this was only their second tournament. They practiced their cases together, but had never (not even in practice) completed a full round together. Diminutive in stature but obviously powerful in character and skills, they debated in a challenging arena: Policy. Topic: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its economic engagement toward Cuba, Mexico or Venezuela. Harrison downplays his success as if it’s all child’s play. When I asked how it went, he said, “We refuted their arguments; they dropped ours.” No nervous energy here for a young man who has played the piano twice in Carnegie Hall; only beautiful shy smiles from Tari as she enjoys but still minimizes their success. With a shrug, I hear, “I guess we did think well on our feet. That was fine.”
Particular Kudos should be extended to the coach of the Policy Debaters. Jeremy Pena comes to AA after his job in a law office and works with students on debate skills and the cases they argue. The success of so many debaters is directly attributable to his good work with the students.
Other students who did well include:
Ria Mazumdar – FIRST in Domestic Extemporaneous speaking (30 mins to prepare a memorized 10 min speech on Domestic political or economic issues)
Nobel Barakat – SECOND in International Extemporaneous speaking (same as Domestic Extemporaneous speaking, except, of course, with international themes)
Sally Midani and Jess Bregman – THIRD in Duo Impromptu (An event for two people where the topic is chosen when they walk in the room and together they have to prepare a presentation)
Ria Mazumdar and John Chappell – SECOND in Varsity Policy Debate (same as what Harrison and Tari won but in the “varsity” category) Note that I wrote last time about John winning the novice category and being bumped up to Varisity because of his improvement)
Ariel Hurowitz and Harley Hanes – THIRD in Varsity Policy Debate
Sally Midani and Jaimie Lin – FIRST in Duo (A dramatic event where they choose, edit, prepare and perform a script)
Emily Louth – THIRD in OI (Oratorical Interpretation)
Margaret Downs – SIXTH in Original Oratory (You may remember her in the last email; she spoke about the value of good teachers)
Grace Kienzle – FIFTH in Original Oratory
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