Keoni Scott-Reid High School Debater of the Year: Parker McCauley (Benjamin Banneker High School)

If you are looking for a young person who embodies the spirit of a good debater, look no further than Keoni Scott-Reid. He was one of the first WUDL debaters, and holds most of the “firsts” in the league record book, winning every award available at the time. He was a leader in the community, an innovative scholar, and an inspirational coach. He tragically passed away in 2019, and we’ve re-named this award in his memory.

Parker McCauley is this year’s winner, and likely the last that will remember Keoni as a competitor and coach (They were a young middle school debater when he passed away). Parker exemplifies Keoni’s combination of competitive excellence, leadership, scholarship, and character. 

Parker represented WUDL at Middle School Nationals as an 8th grader, and has been a good Varsity debater for the last four years. Parker’s arrival at Banneker at the same time that the team started getting bigger and more competitively successful hasn’t been a coincidence — Parker has won a lot of those awards, but also works with the younger debaters, offering advice and wisdom to help the team grow as a whole. Parker has been one of the most regular participants in the league, despite having to take on additional responsibility this year as their mother battles cancer. Despite a challenging year, Parker is the biggest cheerleader for fellow WUDL debaters, the first to offer to assist when another team advances to elimination rounds at Travel Tournaments, or to volunteer for our Elementary School program. 

Like Keoni, Parker has a future as a gifted coach after their competitive days are done. 

Middle School Debater of the Year: Claudia Hyman-Jimenez (DC International School)

Claudia has been at the center of the rebuilt DC International team, that was almost rebuilt from scratch after the pandemic. An eager and inquisitive mind, she hasn’t missed a tournament since she joined the program, and is always one of the first to ask questions, volunteer for things, or be supportive of her fellow debaters. 

Ever since camp last summer, I’ve seen how much debate means to Claudia, and appreciated the development of her voice. The partnership wrote their own affirmative case about making higher education more accessible, and when we were brainstorming ideas for the coming year, Claudia already had an outline of a case about youth mental health that was personally meaningful to her ready to go. 

Despite being in just 7th grade, Claudia (and partner Addie) went to their first regional competition this year and held their own against students 2-3 years older than they were, and were an alternate for Middle School Nationals this year. We can’t wait to see what she does next, and to hear all of her great ideas for many years to come. 

New Debater of the Year: Sangeeth Mathew, (DuVal High School)

In a year with a number of strong candidates, we could have gone a lot of different directions here, but Sangeeth stood out a bit ahead of the pack. 

DuVal used to be the “team to beat” in the WUDL, often fielding 1/3 of the league’s Varsity teams, but hasn’t been as robust or as competitive in recent years. That trend is clearly over, as DuVal has come roaring back. Sangeeth has been a big part of that, advancing through the divisions quickly, seeking out opportunities to observe advanced debates and ask questions of experienced coaches. After losing a debate in his first regional competition in November (2 months into his career), he spent an hour and a half sitting with veteran coach and WUDL volunteer Alan Coverstone, trying to learn more and improve. With partner Eric, they advanced to deep elimination rounds at multiple travel tournaments, and had a solid Varsity debut this semester. Outside his rounds, he’s eager to take advantage of all the opportunities available to him, including fearlessly approaching a cadre of Deloitte executives and asking what it took to get a job there, and what he could do over the next few years to make himself a competitive candidate. 

Beyond their competitive success and drive to succeed, Sangeeth is a team player. He stayed after at multiple events to help put furniture back, and helped run a workshop for younger students. He’s a strong ambassador for the program, and will have a great senior year next year. 

Shout outs to his partner, Eric Esparza, and BASIS DC’s Xena Sehgal and Jack Schmidt, our runners up. 

WUDL Student Choice Awards are chosen by the students, to recognize those that have the respect of their peers. 

WUDL Student Choice Awards: High School Debater of the Year: Victoria Ondrejcak (Duke Ellington High School)

Victoria debated in middle school for a few years at BASIS, highlighted by advancing to the Semi-Finals of the Novice Division at Lexington while in 8th grade. When she and partner Amra reached out wanting to start a team at their high school, Duke Ellington, I couldn’t have imagined how successful they’d be, both as competitors and as team leaders just eight months later. 

As freshmen, Victoria and Amra went to every travel tournament this year, despite never having been to a Varsity tournament before. By the second semester, they were one of the best teams in the league, finishing as the 1st alternate for Nationals by 2 speaker points (out of 240 possible).  They have written creative cases all year centered around Reparations, and have begun to implement creative, performative elements into their arguments, playing for the form of how arguments are made, not just what they say. 

While that may sound like a lot to keep them busy, they’ve also been recruiting and leading an entire team at their new school. They recruited every member of the squad, and have been strong peer coaches, often covering meetings when Coaches Sayer or DuBose aren’t available. They’ve helped their peers thrive as much as they’ve worked on their own success. The entire squad advanced to JV by the end of the year, with several winning awards regionally and locally in JV. I can’t think of a better example of student leadership from this past season, an incredibly deserving choice.

WUDL Student Choice Awards: Middle School Debater of the Year: Isabel Pessey (Hardy)

Isabel Pessey has tagged along after her older sister for several years, watching debates and joining the team as a Novice last year. This year, she’s emerged from her sister’s shadow and become a leader and a strong competitor in her own right. From the beginning of the year, she showed a strong desire to learn more and be challenged. At the Varsity only GDS tournament in Sept., she volunteered to jump into a hybrid team, debating with a high school senior when his partner got sick. She made a strong run at qualifying to Middle School Nationals, and worked with the teams fast growing novice team as a peer leader. She’ll be a captain next year, and has an exceedingly bright future ahead. 

Judge’s Choice Award: Tunde Olorunfemi, DuVal High School

Tunde keeps the WUDL Judge’s Choice Award at DuVal High School, following Mars last year. From summer camp, Tunde showed an insatiable desire to learn, and constantly challenged himself to improve. From mentoring Isabel (see above) at GDS to recruiting and training a great cadre of first year debaters (like Eric and Sangeeth, above), he has been a strong team captain this year. He’s also had substantial competitive success, advancing to the U50 Finals at Lexington and almost qualifying for nationals locally. As the season progressed, he and partner Sukra found their argumentative passion working with Coach Bah, discussing the intersection of racism and capitalism and their impact on government fiscal policy. He’s one of the most improved debaters this season, which our judges clearly saw. Beyond his ideas and his leadership, he’s also always the most stylishly dressed debater at every tournament. 

Shoutout to Urban Debate National Championship and Tournament of Champions Qualifiers Akesh Mallia, Zahra Dinkins, William Neuroth, Jener Balk, Daniella Choi, and Sitara Mazumdar. They weren’t eligible for any local awards due to their national recognition, but certainly would have been competitive candidates for these awards if eligible.