“My daughter was so eager to participate in this event, which is out of character for her. She was then so nervous the day of she almost didn’t want to go. Then once she did it, she was all smiles, and couldn’t stop talking about how much fun she had.” 

The arc of growth and engagement by our youngest debaters always always follows this path, from excitement, to anxiety, and finally, to accomplishment and happiness. 

This fall, elementary school students read “The Wild Robot,” (and yes, many went to see the new major motion picture based on the book), then prepared arguments about whether robots (artificial intelligence) should get rights as citizens. 

Debating both sides of a complex issue, students came up with a wide definition of rights, and argued both practical questions about what is an artificial intelligence and how would they be integrated into modern society as stakeholders. My favorite, however, were the emotional and moral arguments about what it meant to be human / alive, and therefore, deserving of these privileges. 

Shout Outs: 

• Sophie and Catie (Watkins ES), our undefeated tournament champions
• Georgia and Lucia (Mann ES), who only lost one ballot all weekend
• Avner and Esai (Watkins ES) who only lost two ballots all weekend
• Ans and Ari (Watkins), Andrew and Chloe (Mann), and Gabriela and Makenna (Bruce Monroe) who also received trophies! 
• Top Speaker Amani, who literally started dancing in joy when her name was announced. 
• All of the older students who came out to serve as judges and mentors for the ES tournament, especially Parker, Maggie, and Tosin who not only judged, but helped me run an intro to debate workshop for the students in the morning.