A local high school debating team reached new heights this week when they competed in the Western Australian Debating League grand final.
Seven Year 10 students from Southern River College went up against students from Carmel Adventist College to determine the winner of this year’s competition.
Competing in nine debates to date the students unfortunately stumbled at the last hurdle placing them as runners-up in the 2018 competition.
Debating coach and lead Humanities and Social Sciences teacher Sasha Lytas said the competition against many other public and private schools around the state was challenging but extremely rewarding for all involved.
“In the competition students participate in teams of three to argue one side of a topic against another,” she said.
“They must research and write and then deliver their five-minute speeches.
“Doing it as part of the Western Australian Debating League is an excellent opportunity as the students’ argumentative skills and ability to think on their feet is tested.”
Student Katarina French said at the start of the competition many members of the team didn’t think they would progress very far but that all started to change when they saw first hand what they could do.
“The hard work and time we spent on our speeches really paid off,” she said.
Ms Lytas said this year was the first time students at Southern River College had been named as the regional division winner and the first time the school had progressed through the finals stage of the competition.
