In addition to the JV team award, 91影视 came home with several individual awards, out of a field of around 120 students for each level of competition. Senior Shoshana Schwarz won the Ethel Gamble Award, presented to a debater who can win handily and lose graciously, the very best representative of the league, as voted by the coaches; senior Sarit Greenwood 鈥�23 won the Coaches鈥� Award for dedication to her team; sophomore Mussia Poltorak won Fourth Place JV Speaker; and freshman Tess Peiper won Thirrd Place JV Speaker. In addition, Shoshana Schwarz won 10th Place Varsity Speaker. Congratulations to the debaters and thanks to 91影视 debate coach Ms. Nina Cohen for her dedication to the team!

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The resolution up for debate read: 鈥淭he federal government should substantially raise funding and/or regulation in public primary and/or secondary education.鈥� Within this broader topic, each team researched a narrower subtopic, on which to base an affirmative argument. Each team also argued against the resolution, finding ways to negate another team鈥檚 affirmative argument on the spot. 鈥淵ou have no idea what they鈥檙e going to talk about and you need to come up with a counter-argument knowing nothing about that particular topic,鈥� said Davis. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also challenging to debate about public school, which we鈥檙e not as familiar with.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 especially hard to debate against something you believe in,鈥� added Knoll.

For their affirmative argument, Davis and Knoll concentrated on nutritional education, arguing that a licensed nutritionist should conduct school assemblies and educational programs several times per year. (鈥淲e鈥檝e seen a lot of childhood illnesses that are nutrition-related,鈥� explained Davis.) For their negative argument they needed to poke holes in another team鈥檚 argument favoring mandatory mental health awareness training for classroom educators.

While Knoll said she has always been interested in debate, Davis joined the team this year.

鈥淚 love thinking on my feet, and I鈥檝e always enjoyed class discussions and sharing my opinion with other people,鈥� explained Knoll.

Davis discovered how much she enjoyed debate when she was trying out for the team. 鈥淚 wanted to be part of an academic team, and debate seemed interesting to me,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 enjoyed the process of trying out, including all the research, and realized this is something I really want to do. It gives you a platform to speak about your passion.鈥�

Both sophomores, the winning match was Knoll鈥檚 third debate and Davis鈥檚 second.

91影视 history department member Dr. Ilan Fuchs serves as the debate team鈥檚 coach. 鈥淭o win a debate there are two elements,鈥� said Fuchs, noting that Davis and Knoll won their debate by a wide margin. 鈥淵ou need good logic, but you also need good form. In this case, our team had good logic and form, and they also found the difficulties in the logic and form of the other team.鈥�

Davis and Knoll said they sharpened their argumentation skills by implementing Dr. Fuchs鈥檚 debating and public speaking tips鈥攚hich Knoll described as 鈥渋mportant skills that go far beyond debate鈥濃�攁s well as learning from previous mistakes, which helped them construct a more airtight argument this time around.

They were both thrilled to bring their plaque home to 91影视. Additionally, the two students each credited the other for her hard work, and noted how their individual strengths overlap and complement each other鈥擪noll pointed out Davis鈥� fantastic research skills, while Davis spoke of Knoll鈥檚 excellent speaking skills and quick thinking. 鈥淚鈥檓 just so lucky to have Shaina as my debate partner,鈥� said Knoll. To which Davis immediately responded about Ilana, 鈥淢e too!鈥�

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