Debate, a fast paced, engaging competition serves as a popular elective among students at St. Paul Academy and Summit School. “It’s a fun thing to do and it really improves your public speaking skills,” junior Liza Bukingolts said.
Serving as more than an elective, debaters devote ample time and preparation for weekend competitions where research leads to strong argumentation and a hope to win.

And winning is something the SPA Debate team has done so far. At the Blaine tournament Oct. 11, freshman team Robin Bartlett and Ben Konstan won the 1st year debater tournament, juniors Ryan Peacock and Maya Smith won the JV division, seniors Shaan Bijwadia and Jordan Hughes placed second in the Varsity division, while Riley Wheaton and Aliza Rahman were second and third in Student Congress.

The week before at the Eastview invitational, Shaan Bijwadia and Tommy Toghramadjian took first place, Mansuda Arora and Jordan Hughes ranked second, and Shefali Bijwadia and Raffi Toghramadjian were fourth in the varsity division. SPA dominated the first year debater division, winning five of the top seven places, thanks to Spencer Allen, Robin Bartlett, Kate Bond, Sami Brattland, Breandon Gibbons, Ben Konstan, Ned Laird-Raylor, Matti Solomon, Emilia Topp-Johnson, and Henry Zietlow.

“I actually think the team is stronger than it was last year, so I’m very hopeful of us doing quite well,” Director of Speech and Debate Tom Fones said.

This year’s team consists of 104 debaters – the highest number seen in the history of the school.

“So far its really fun and interesting,” freshman beginning debater Numi Katz said.

SPA is trying Congressional debate in addition to Public Forum. In this style, the debaters give speeches about bills and vote on laws as if they were in legislature. Unlike Public Forum, students compete individually.

The opening topic for Public Forum requires teams to take a position on public funds for professional sports stadiums. In November, the topic switches to genetically modified foods.

“I like that people can talk about current events. A lot of people when they talk about politics in public are very rude about it, and I think its good to get it down to the facts,” Fones said.

Many students enjoy debate, but that is not to undermine the hard work it takes. To prepare for tournaments, debaters work hard both in class and at home.
“You need to put good arguments together that are hard to beat,” Bukingolts said.

“You could spend an almost endless amount of time,” Fones said.

Bukingolts loves the feeling when she knows she is doing well. “Its kind of like an adrenaline rush in a weird way… you’re just on top of your game, and you’re really prepared,” Bukingolts said.