Keoni Scott-Reid High School Debater of the Year: 

Victoria Ondrejcak, Duke Ellington (American League)
Madison Thorpe, Banneker (National League)

Keoni Scott-Reid, this award’s namesake, would have liked this year’s nominees. Each share some of his most memorable traits, from leadership and humility to compassion and creativity. 

Victoria has been a student leader at Duke Ellington and their most involved debater for three years now, helping build the program from scratch. Their novices are thriving, and she’s been an alternate for Nationals twice now, and pushes the envelope competitively through performative innovations. 

Madison has literally given the shirt off her back to help a friend in need….and along the way, she’s become quite a good debater too. I watched her give a stunning, technical speech about debate theory. She’s a leader, an incredibly hard worker, and now, increasingly one of the better debaters in the league.  

Middle School Debater of the Year: 
Eleanor Jacobs, Redlands Middle School (American League)

Robyn Grier, KIPP Shaw, (National League)

Both of these debaters have impressed us, both with their competitive growth, and their consistent participation. What goes above and beyond is that they’ve been doing this all year, and winning piles of trophies….as mavericks. With many schools fielding small teams, (and just not having many students in general), some students are left without a partner, or at least one at their skill level.

New Debater of the Year: 

Muhammed Haider, Forest Park, (American League)

Fares Eltoum, Francis Hammond (National League)

Muhammad ran the gauntlet this year, rising from Novice to Varsity with friend and debate partner Marcus Gwynn. They made a good push at Nationals, and won a few speaker awards along the way. He made an additional impact on the community with an infectious laugh and great sense of humor. 

Fares was the tip of the iceberg as Francis Hammond stormed into WUDL this year. The team started out with nothing but Rookies in October, and after winning wagonloads of trophies, decided to throw their top teams into our MS Qualifying division. Fares and partner Elias held their own, and were our 1st Alternates to Nationals. We are very excited to see what these new debaters have in their future. 

Student Choice Awards:

High School Debater of the Year: 

Nala Hunter, Richard Wright (American League)

Marshall Thorpe, Banneker (National League)

Volunteer of the Year Jokim Bryant has led a resurgent Richard Wright team, the best and largest in school history. The team has advanced to JV for the first time in 8 years, and they’re winning awards too. From this strong squad, the debater that gained the respect of their peers the most was Nala, who won multiple awards this spring in JV. Jokim has been bragging that he’ll have the whole squad in Varsity by Christmas, and we’re excited to see what Nala and the rest of the team can do! 

Marshall feels like he’s been around forever, but he’s still just a freshman. Despite that, he’s becoming one of the hardest working debaters in the community. Last year, he did speaking drills for a month coming into MS Nationals, and carves out dedicated work time for debate each week. He’s also got the biggest social network across the league, embracing the opportunities to meet folks across the region. We hope more debaters follow his example and build those ties across school borders. 

Middle School Debater of the Year: 

Gavin Butler, John Francis (American League)

Karma White, Stuart Hobson (National League)

Gavin started his debate career at the Matthew Harris Ornstein Summer Debate Institute, and won an award at every tournament this season, cycling through several partners across the tournaments. Coach Young has raved about his humility and work ethic, and it clearly stood out among his opponents too!

Karma went to every tournament, debating across two divisions with three partners…and won 10 awards between individual and speaker awards. Karma was an easy choice for her peers, and is usually the loudest cheer from the Stuart Hobson when she won awards. Coach Plaisted eagerly listed this up and comer as a big part of the next wave of potential MS Nationals competitors for the next two years. 

Judge’s Choice Award: 

Au’Rea Jones, Digital Pioneers (American League)

Everton Morrison, Eliot Hine (National League)

Au’Rea is a second year debater who is already in and out of Varsity, attending some regional tournaments, the 2nd school from Ward 8 to attend regional competitions. She’s worked hard, and as much as we don’t ever like to admit it, made plans for the coming year as partner Tyius prepares to graduate, ready to be one of the best debaters in the league next season. This year, the growth from new to JV to competitive in Varsity, along with wry humor and extreme coachability made her an easy choice for our judging community. 

Everton has had the opposite career trajectory. While Au’Rea started late and is making up for lost time, Everton has been grinding. He’s been to almost every tournament for the last three years, and with new partner Jahleel, they’ve started moved up to JV. Never a consistent award winner in Rookie or Novice, the trophies are finally starting to show up for Everton as Coach Crump raves about his dedication and work ethic. His passion for debate was clear to our judges, and we look forward to his high school career with great interest.