Washington Urban Debate has been growing! During the pandemic, we served more than 400 students across the whole season. Now….that’s a single tournament. While many school districts across the country have large high schools that bring together thousands of students all  in one building (and have suitably larger buildings as a result), D.C. does not – its high schools average 415 students, and the largest buildings barely have 100 rooms. 

As a result, WUDL has split into conferences, the American League and the National League, to better manage the volume of eager students excited to compete. 

December marks the first month of the season where this system has properly kicked in (the season opener was overwhelmed with debaters, we had folks having lunch on the stairs, and on the floor of the cafeteria, we didn’t have enough chairs, and yet another signal this shift was overdue). Thus, we have two tournaments worth of results to share! 

In the American League: 

The Varsity Division was a BASIS and Walls affair, with Academy of Health Science’s Claire and Ayisha breaking up the duopoly. The division was won by our ToC qualifiers Jack and Margaret, followed closely by teammates Alex and Royana. Marco / Evelyn, Amelia / Bobby, and Kai / Olive from Walls also won trophies. 

Shout out to Kai and Olive for having a great first Varsity tournament. 

In JV, Hannah and Precious from Academy of Health Sciences brought home 1st place, followed by Harold and Shaan and May / Elsie from Walls, and Kim / Samara from Coolidge and Caroline / Shujaa from Douglass. 

In Novice, 

Jordyn / Lakaia from Richard Wright won the Division, while teammates Shanika and Erin also placed. This was Richard Wright’s best showing in years, a great starting point as Coaches Bryant and Laster rebuild the team. 

BASIS DC’s Morgan / Josie and Inspired Teaching’s Max / Russell also went undefeated. 

Shout out to Sojourner Truth’s Louisa / Brooke for continuing their schools great run of success. While they did lose for the first time in school history, they continued their run of getting trophies at every event. 

In Rookie, it was Hardy Hardy, Hardy, with Sage / Oliver, Gavin / Isla, and Grace / Madison in the first three places, followed by top speaker Khalil, and partner Skye, from John Francis. Dontae / Demi of Monument Academy had a school best showing, rounding out the top 5. 

Shout outs to Capital Hill Montessori, John Francis, and Redlands for winning lots of trophies across Novice and Rookie. 

In the National League – we had a clash of titans, as several large programs faced off against one another – Banneker, DCI, and Bladensburg on the High School side, with Stuart Hobson, Eliot Hine, Oyster Adams, Kettering, and MacFarland all entering lots of teams across the divisions. 

In Rookie: Huck / Franklin, Micah / Lenoxx, Lea / Wynter from Stuart Hobson and Vera / Louisa from Eliot Hine all went undefeated – showing how the best middle school debate in the region still runs through Capitol Hill / Ward 6. In fact, the two schools were the first 8 award winners. Kettering’s Glory / Kristofer and Idaraobong / Chinua, were right behind them, both in team awards and speaker awards. 

In Novice, Bladensburg’s Francois / Dalton, Karamoko / Gerson and Melina / Itoroobong from Kettering, and Maite from Oyster Adams were undefeated, with, shocking….teams from Oyster Adams, Eliot Hine, and Stuart Hobson right behind them. 

Shout out to DuVal – their 2nd top speaker award in a row, this time from Oluwadamilola. This weekend, they had company, with Sybil as 2nd speaker. 

In JV, we’ve definitely just got some teams ready to go to Varsity – Berrin and Xander from Oyster are ready, in English or Spanish, while teammates Annika and Benji aren’t far behind. Theo / Louise continue to be one of the best Middle School teams in the league. Brothers Aaron and Andrew and Kettering’s Zaria / Jewel rounded out the top five. 

In Varsity, DCI continued a tradition of bringing a debater up from Novice and doing really well. This month, it was Mecca, who started debating at summer camp this year. Together with Ella, they went undefeated, setting the pace for the rest of the division. 

We’ll see you in the spring!