We are so excited to get back to debating this season. Students are confronting a heady topic about intellectual property rights, discussing issues from patenting human genetics to copyright protections for content creators, deepfakes, indigenous rights, capitalism, and so much more! 

We would like to first of all thank Stu and the rest of the Cap City admin for allowing us to use their beautiful space. It is one of our favorite places to host, a great place to kick off the season! 

In honor of our 10th anniversary, we debuted a new category of awards this year, to recognize students who have done outstanding work between tournaments. This week, we recognized Braxton of College Park, and Madison of Banneker for their efforts mentoring teammates getting ready for their first tournaments. 

Speaking of first, we had new or renewed teams debuting that weren’t with us last year:

Academy of Health Science and Center City Petworth

In Varsity, a hybrid team won the tournament that had never debated together before — Duke Ellington’s Victoria and BASIS’s Jack. The sophomores defeated all comers as our only undefeated team this past weekend. BASIS DC’s Leah and Margaret were in 2nd, with Walls’s Zahra and Marie-Celeste were 3rd, Ajibola and Tosin from Roosevelt were 4th, and freshmen Marco and Evelyn were 5th. 

In JV, DC International’s Ryder and Claudia won the division (debating for the first time together), with Flower’s Carmen and Arielle right behind them as the two undefeated teams. Eliot Hine’s Bobby and Rohan qualified for Middle School Nationals last year. With Rohan now at Banneker (and debating Varsity), Bobby needed a new partner, and called up 6th grader Louise. They didn’t miss a beat, finishing 3rd overall, with Stuart Hobson’s Mina and Fiona 4th, brothers Aaron and Andrew from Charles Flowers 5th. 

Shout outs:

• Duke Ellington’s Tabitha in 6th in their first JV tournament
• Academy of Health Science’s Ayesha and Claire won their school’s first trophies in many years, finishing 7th (and in JV, skipping straight over Novice). 
• Callie won Washington Latin Cooper Campus’s 1st award ever in 8th place. 
• Sheridan won 4th place speaker representing Douglass, while Kennedy and Skyler were 11th. 
• Skylar and Phoenix jumped straight to JV and held their own for Columbia Heights as new co-coach Kaysey Boscico begins to rebuild the team!
• The story of the Novice Division was Forest Park and Roosevelt. Forest Park’s Marcus and Adunola were the top two speakers, while Kobe was 8th. Marcus and Kobe also won the division. This is Forest Park’s best showing in a WUDL tournament, and 2/3 of their team came home with awards this past weekend. 

Roosevelt also showed up in a big way, with Jaidynn and David (3rd), Sandiyah and Jerry (4th), and Sebastian and Madison) also going undefeated and winning trophies. BASIS DC’s Nina and Madison (2nd) and Murray (9th) Banneker’s Rahel and Yasmin (7th), and Amelia and Makayla (10th) and Eliot Hine’s Drew and Coda (8th) rounded out the top 10. 

Shout outs: 

• College Track’s Atrayufinished with a 2-1 record and was the 13th speaker, despite debating alone. 

In Rookie: 

Hobson’s Brooklyn / Raegan, Emma / Caroline, Chloe / Prince, DCI’s Asha and Elsinore, Eliot Hine’s Phoebe and Theo and Oyster Adams’ Michael and Amy all went undefeated. 

Shout outs: 

• Mikaela / Miyamin and Kisanet / Aliana of Center City Petworth for winning the first rounds in school history! 

We’ll see you in two weeks Oct. 26th @ Hart Middle School! 

• Reminder: Costume optional, prizes available for the best costumes!