Six years in, WUDL’s elementary circuit has built its own culture and norms, with debating providing a powerful creative outlet that builds literacy skills and excites students to learn about the world around them.

I’d like to offer a big shout out to the DC Rotary Club this year. Not only did they sponsor the 2nd tournament at Stanton Elementary and support the program with dozens of volunteers, they also sponsored and supported the Stanton debate team in their inaugural season. Howard University Roteract members were on site at Stanton to help the team prepare, and President Donnie Shaw and DC PIC Chairman Kenny Barnes brought strong leadership and conviction to the effort. We look forward to working with y’all going forward. 

This year, there were two new layers to Elementary Debate, both based on feedback from our ES coaches. 

1. We hosted two tournaments instead of one, the first at Yu Ying (Big shout out to Coach Harris, Jose Sousa, and team for hosting us), and the second at Stanton ES. This allowed students to participate, get feedback, and then give it another try so that they could learn and grow from their experience. 

2. We also introduced divisions. With many students returning to participate, many having older siblings who debate offering a lot of support at home, and many who are advanced readers, creating two divisions allows students who are ready for a greater challenge to do so while still allowing beginners a comfortable place to learn the basics. 

As always, a big shout out to ES Curricular Architect Kip Plaisted. A highly successful coach at the Middle School level, he has led the program development since it’s inception, choosing the books and developing the teaching tools for coaches. 

ES students read a book, “Two Degrees,” which explores the stories of three young people experiencing various effects of climate change. They then debated a resolution centered around student activism – should ES students take direct action on climate change? 

The tournament was judged by many existing WUDL debaters, many middle and high school students getting their first opportunity to get behind the table and judge instead of being the competitors themselves. 

First tournament results:

Advanced:

• Mathis / Mael (Ludlow)
• Julia / Emmeline (Ludlow)
• Sophie / Maya (Ludlow)
• Yonathan / Oren (Janney)
• Esai / Ans (Watkins)

Speaker:

• Julia (Ludlow)
• Mathis (Ludlow)
• Mael (Ludlow)
• Alex (Ludlow)
• Oren (Janney)

Beginner: 

• Cora / Madeline (Ludlow)
• Alice / Benjamin (Stoddert)
• Isaac / Owen (Stoddert)
• Declan / Lukas (Yu Ying)
• Ollie / Saron (Garrison)

Speaker:

• Declan (Yu Ying)
• Cora (Ludlow)
• Lukas (Yu Ying)
• Grace (Watkins)
• Charlie (Watkins)

Second tournament results:

Beginner:

• Sonia / Leah (Payne)
• Ben / Alice (Stoddert)
• Eve / Quinn (Ludlow)
• Isaac / Owen (Stodddert)
• Amelia / Eliana (Garrison)
• Landon / Alex (Yu Ying)
• Gigi / Noel (Stanton)
• Monzeratte (Stanton)
• Amelia / Rory (Stoeddert)
• Lillian / Leon (JO Wilson)

Speakers

• Leah (Payne)
• Sonia (Payne)
• Rory (Stoddert)
• Alice (Stoddert)
• Monzeratte (Stanton)

Advanced:

• Abby / Jojo (Janney)
• Jolene / Graham (Ludlow)
• Emma / Leah (Janney)
• Mael / Mathis (Ludlow)
• Julia / Emmeline (Ludlow)

Speakers:

• Alex (Ludlow)
• Emma (Janney)
• Jojo (Janney)
• Trudi (Ludlow)
• Graham (Ludlow)

We’re excited to see these young scholars move up to debate in Middle School, with many signed up already for the Matthew Harris Ornstein Summer Debate Institute. We expect to further expand the program with more schools and more students in the Fall. Coach Plaisted has already chosen a book, so stay tuned!

Great job to the debaters, and welcome to the WUDL family! 

Shout out to all the great older students who helped out as judges (as well as other volunteers and Rotary DC Members!): 

Simone, Mary, Jadon, Miguel, Nora, Max C, Rudy, Isabella, James, Nero, Blessing, Russell, Robyn, Muhammad, Aria, Kai, Claudia, Arielle, Ian, Tyra, Oluwadamilola, Skylar, Keya, Abdulay, Gabriela, Ella, Brigid, Louise, Marshall, Nora, Sebastian, Margaret, Andres, Wynter, Aiden, Eliana, Marshall, Amelia, Nala, Ife, Haeven, AuRea, Gary, Kingston, Sandi, Max W, Henry, Victoria, Isabelle, Brooklyn, Benji, Ayisha, Priya, Olive, Leah, Precious, Victoria, Madison, Alex, and Evelyn.