First middle school tournament breaks records

Wow! Did you see all of those parents? Wall to wall children? High school and college judges? Volunteer judges? New coaches? New schools in the middle school debate program? Student observers?

Sports does it for some. Music concerts featuring favorite performers for others. Debate does it for every one of the hundreds of people in attendance at William H. Lemmel Middle School, The Alternative Middle School @Lemmel and ConneXions Community Leadership Academy on Saturday, October 25, 2008. Our original site for this tournament was William H. Lemmel only. However we had an amazing conundrum envelope our middle school program - growing pains of a most wonderful nature have caused our debate waistlines to bulge and we needed more physical space to accommodate our super sized debate rounds. Some rooms held two debates simultaneously. We used the cafeteria and the media center to hold multiple rounds. Still, we needed more room.

The Alternative Middle School offered their space so we proceeded with our tournament as they held Saturday School. We greatly appreciated the additional space but lo and behold, we still needed more space. Phone calls and emails were made the day before the tournament and we secured the use of ConneXions Community Leadership Academy. Major props to the administrators at the three schools we used: Principal Quianna Cooke, Principal Ara Shishmanian and Principal Rodney Powell.

Wherever you turned on Saturday you were greeted with throngs of people moving amidst an air of exhilaration and anticipation. Parents arrived with siblings of debaters to watch rounds. Grandparents carefully navigated the crowded hallways as they sought out rooms with their loved ones inside, debating the resolution for our first tournament: The United States federal government should encourage the use of nuclear power.

The three rounds of debate were hungrily interrupted between rounds two and three for a pizza lunch and amazing sharing of space as parents, debaters, BUDL staff, relatives and friends of debaters comingled in a space that became too small with each slice of pizza. And yet the cafeteria was a hub of expectation as debaters' heartbeats increased awaiting the final pairings of the day. And then they were off for the round that would end the newness jitters of the first debate tournament as new schools and students debating for the first time took a breath like no other, signaling a singular accomplishment - successfully making it through the first middle school debate of the new debate season. Talk about way cool! Some remarkable highlights include the following:

• Coach Ben Gitelson from Calverton, our Cardin Cup winner
• Kelly Darius, our top novice speaker from Bluford
• Travis Carroll, our top varsity speaker from Winston
• Roland Park, our top school
• Calverton, Stadium, Crossroads and Wm. H. Lemmel rounded out the top five schools

We have reached an exciting crossroads in the middle school debate program as we welcome elementary schools to our program. Stay tuned for updates on those schools, more results from our first tournament on top teams in both novice and varsity divisions, and reflections from parents, debaters, apprentices and...you'll just have to come back.

In the meantime you might want to ponder this life changing possibility: if "Johnny's" school had an elementary/middle school debate team and Johnny joined the team led by dedicated, talented coaches with ongoing support from existing seasoned debate team members, a committed administrator, fantastic parents and guardians, just imagine what Johnny could do with those developing literacy skills!