The thunder could be heard roaring through the gym; that is, the CPSA Thunder! After being invited to larger, more established IHSA school debates, CPSA decided to take on the reigns and host its first ever in-house, IHSA novice tournament.
Three years ago, the CPSA Congressional Debate team transitioned to a formal Lincoln Douglas Debate team and eventually added the Public Forum format as well. Lincoln Douglas, or LD, requires individual students to understand and research a controversial topic from both sides, and then compete with opponents to either affirm and/or negate the topic, while Public Forum, or PF, is a two person effort. This tournament’s two resolutions debated about justifying civil disobedience and the United Nations Law of the Sea.
Under the guidance of the coach and the experienced Junior Varsity and Varsity Debate team, the new novice debaters tirelessly studied, edited, and practiced constructing cases and repeatedly presenting.
Finally, with the help of the Speech Club, the school was transformed into an IHSA approved battleground. Cleaning and decorating around the creative theme of “Construct A Debate,” the visiting schools were welcomed with breakfast and lunch along with Arabic Calligraphy posters created by our own Fatima Ala . The anticipated awards ceremony commenced with beautiful trophies and hard hats awarded by co-captains Aneeza Ahmed and Huzefa Choudhry. The visiting schools left a tremendous outpour of complements including, “My favorite tournament ever!” and, “We can’t wait to come back again!”
Alhamdulillah, our novice team came away with their own awards in both the best speaker category and the best overall debate category.
Congratulations to the following:
Best Speakers:
- Abdullah Khan PF
- Ismail Mohammed PF
- Hamid Mohuiddin PF
- Ali Alhaj LD
- Syeda Adeena Ahmad LD – 2nd
Top Overall PF Debaters:
- Idrees Mohammed & Hamid Mohuiddin -1st
- Amir Dardar & Ismail Mohammed – 6th
- Abdullah Khan & Mohammed Abdullah Khan – 9th
Top Overall LD Debaters:
- Ruwaida Khadeer – 4th
- Syeda Adeena Ahmad – 7th
- Ali Alhaj – 8th
- Khaliq Muhammad – 10th
- Abdullah Ruyyashi – 11th
- Saleh Saeed – 15th
May Allah continue to protect and bless our students as we guide them to discover their untapped abilities and future endeavors. Ameen.
Debate Coach Mrs Nadia Joudeh