Northrop Grumman Season Opener WUDL's Largest Tournament Yet

Marcus (left) was our New Debater of the Year last season. He spent the weekend training Muhammad, a brand new debater.....and picked up some trophies along the way, including 1st Place in JV, and Top Speaker

The hum of students buzzing in the cafeteria was unusually loud, echoing down the halls and filling John Francis Education Campus with a potent energy. 

The exuberance of the beginning of a new debate season was palpable, but there was something different about this tournament. About 50 somethings different actually, as this tournament was by far the largest event we’ve ever hosted! 

A big thanks to Northrop Grumman and VP Jay Cox for sponsoring this event, and to John Francis Education Campus for hosting the event. Also a big shout out to Kate Kovin and the rest of ETA Sorority at GW for coming out to judge some debates! 

This season, students are learning about Arctic policy, a combination of environmental, security, scientific, indigenous sovereignty, economic, and energy policies that initially might seem abstract and far from home, but in reality, shape our lives thousands of miles away in important ways, especially as climate change makes the Arctic more accessible every year. 

We are excited to welcome a bunch of new schools making their debuts: 

  • Capitol Hill Montessori (No Team Since 2020)
  • Center City Shaw (Brand New)
  • Center City Trinidad (No Team Since 2023)
  • Eastern High School (No Team Since 2020)
  • Francis Hammond (Brand New, WUDL’s first program in Virginia)
  • Montgomery Village (No Team Since 2023)
  • Sojourner Truth High School (Brand New)
  • Theodore Roosevelt (Brand New)

We had one of the largest Varsity divisions in league history, featuring competitors from 14 different schools. 

We had 5 undefeated teams this weekend: Jack / Margaret (BASIS DC), Claudia / Adeline and Marianna / Ella (DC International), Bobby / James and Evelyn / Marco (Walls). 

Big shout outs to: 

  • Charles Flowers Serenity / ChiChi and Arielle / Noah for finishing 6th and 7th, without the early season tune up @ GDS
  • Thurgood Marshall’s Kaleb / Leia and Mark / Atrayu for having a winning record in their first Varsity experience
  • Frederick Douglass’s Carlos for being the school’s first Varsity competitor in a generation (with a winning record too!) 
In JV, we had 4 undefeated teams: Muhammad / Marcus (Forest Park), Caroline / Shujaa (Frederick Douglass), Louise / Eliza (Eliot Hine) and Tyson / Olive (Coolidge). 

Shout outs to:

Coolidge (above) and Bladensburg’s Kelsie / Ociel for having a winning record in their school’s first trip to JV ever

Banneker’s Norman and Nicole (5th) in their first JV tournament ever. 

John Francis’s Yakin (2nd Speaker) and Forest Park’s Muhammad (4th Speaker) on their awards in their first JV, and first overall tournament, respectively. 

In Novice, we had more than 60 entries!

Congrats to Callie/Lilyhannah (Washington Latin Cooper), Sierra/Oyinkansola (Academy of Health Sciences), Henry/Londyn (Eastern), Joiya/Greta (BASIS DC), Noah/Franklyn, Faith/Gabrielle, (Charles Flowers), Shaan/Harold (Walls), Anais/Brooke (Sojourner Truth HS),  Sanaa / Nina (Frederick Douglass), Teresa/Aleksis (Bladensburg), Aanshi/Adrian and Amierah/Alaina (Eleanor Roosevelt), Elmer/Xavier and Gabriela/Tsion (Banneker), and Eleanor (Redlands)

Shout outs to:

  • Top Speakers Imani (DuVal), and Russell (Inspired Teaching, 6th) for winning speaker awards without winning team awards
In Rookie, we have more than 70(!) entries! Congrats to our undefeated teams of Alexi/Kingston, Karma/Brigid, Karter/Landon, Franklin (Stuart Hobson), Sage/Oliver (Hardy), Miyamin/Noella (Center City Petworth), Aria/Ruby (John Francis), Ava/Tasnia, Jamila/Priyanka (Francis Hammond), Elias / Solomon (Eliot Hine), and Alyaan (Seneca Valley)

Shout Out to: 

  • Francis Hammond for winning a pile of awards in their first season, including speaker awards for Mo and Priyanka. 
At the end of the 1st regular season tournament, School Without Walls holds a very narrow Sweepstakes lead, with BASIS DC, DCI, Banneker, Charles Flowers, and Stuart Hobson right behind them. 

We’re excited to continue the season with the Urban Debate Dragon (JV / Varsity) and Thanksgiving Throwdown (Rookie / Novice). 
Arielle and Noah (Charles Flowers) finished 7th in their Varsity debut, despite missing GDS earlier this Fall.
Thurgood Marshall went to Varsity....and kept winning! Both teams had winning records in their first jump to the highest level of competition
Dr. Price, Alex, Coach Yigeltu, and Danielle relax in the Judge's Lounge between rounds. We had more than 100 volunteers help out to make this past weekend a reality
DCI's Varsity girls, including 6 and 7, had some of the most popular costumes. These 3 freshman and a sophomore also didn't lose any rounds in Varsity between them.
A year ago, Norman and Nicole had never debated before. Now, they're winning trophies in JV, having dominated Rookie and Novice last season
Tyius and Aurea from Digital Pioneers were very excited to win their trophies in JV. They'll advance to Varsity soon!
Demar and Sumaia stand in for their debater who had to leave early. The new coaches at Inspired Teaching had a blast at their first tournament.
Kayla and Jane both took a year off last season. This year, they came back and won awards in JV as if they'd never left. Welcome back!
We overflowed the avaiable seating in the cafeteria, there were more students at the tournament than there were on a normal school day
Coach Miller and Henri won one of our costume awards for their Scooby Duo