Middle School Championship Wraps Up A Stellar Year of Mars Colonization Debates

As our middle school debaters competed this year, they’ve traveled a remarkable distance together – though perhaps not quite as far as Mars! As they debated the pros and cons of Mars colonization, their first tentative steps into argumentation have become confident strides. Join us as we celebrate the top debaters from each team, who competed for the title of Citywide Champion this spring.

Plus, check out the community awards that recognize the mentors who live out our mission and help make our urban debate experience out of this world.

Community Award Winners

Teacher Coach of the Year: Jonathan Kohan, Centennial Middle School

Jonathan Kohan of Centennial Middle School was chosen as our Middle School Teacher Coach of the Year. Since he started coaching middle school debate three years ago, Centennial’s robust and enthusiastic team has grown quickly and seen significant competitive success across multiple divisions of competition. Mr. Kohan is the kind of coach who works tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure every student in Centennial has the opportunity to join and succeed in debate.

Student Coaches of the Year: Zade W. and Kiernan B.K.

A unique feature of the MNUDL’s middle school debate program is that high school students serve as assistant coaches, building their leadership skills and passing expertise on debate strategy down to the next generation. Congratulations to Zade W. and Kiernan B.K., who earned the Student Coach(es) of the Year Award for their exceptional work at Hidden River Middle School! They connect authentically with students and have helped make the debate team a fixture of Hidden River’s learning community. From preparing lesson plans to providing encouragement and sage advice to their debaters, these two do it all!

Exceptional Community Member: Flory Sommers

Flory Sommers was presented with the Exceptional Community Member award, recognizing her longtime commitment to coaching students and advocating for the visibility of debate in the community. Flory has been involved with the MNUDL for nearly two decades now. Her influence spans coaching and mentoring coaches across middle school debate, Spanish Debate, and East African Debate – she finds a way to bring out the potential in students and peers wherever she goes!

Exceptional Community Members: Jones White Family

Our second Exceptional Community Member Award was presented in recognition of the Jones-White family, who have spent years building a legacy of engaged debaters at Yinghua Academy. It is rare to find one exceptional coach and community member at a school, much less a family of them! The Jones-Whites have been at the helm of the Yinghua debate program for nearly a decade now, and have created one of the most consistently large and competitive teams in the middle school debate circuit. Their alums have become high school state champions, college debaters, high school coaches, and cornerstones of several other programs. Their hard work and dedication ripples through our network, making positive experiences for students and growing their skills.

Tournament Results

As always, students had the opportunity to earn two types of awards at this tournament: partnership awards and speaker awards. Partnership awards recognized individual two-debater teams with the best win/loss record across prelims and finals. Speaker awards are given to students whose judges give them the highest number of speaker points according to a rubric including elements like argumentation, public speaking, and use of evidence. Please congratulate these top award-winning students for their accomplishments!

Rookie Division

Congratulations to our Rookie Division Champions, Shy W. & Mecko M. from Robbinsdale! This division is for students who are debating for the first time – what an amazing way to debut.

Rookie finalists Kristelle A. & Roger G. from Chaska Middle School were the runner-ups after fierce rounds of debate and finals.

Rookie Partnership Awards:

• Champions: Shy W. & Mecko M. (Robbinsdale)
• Finalists: Kristelle A. & Roger G. (Chaska)
• 3rd: Kimaya P. & Amaiyha J. (Hidden River)
• 4th: Azaria C. & Aaliya C. (Brooklyn Center)
• 5th: Astrid C. & Jennifer F.L. (Risen Christ Academy)
• 6th: Violet B. (Plymouth)
• 7th: Rengsona Y. & Kira C. (Washington Tech)
• 8th: Giovanna V.N. & Jamilete T.M. (Hidden River)
• 9th: Xavier H. & Harrison S. (Plymouth)
• 10th: Alaine L. & Imohang R. (Robbinsdale)

Rookie: Speaker Awards (Top 20)

• Top Rookie Speaker: Violet B. (Plymouth)
• 2nd: Rengsona Y. (Washington Tech)
• 3rd: Shy W. (Robbinsdale)
• 4th: Roger G. (Chaska)
• 5th: Mecko M. (Robbinsdale)
• 6th: Elizabeth Ad.(Skyview MS)
• 7th: Lena M. (Skyview MS)
• 8th: Kristelle A. (Chaska)
• 9th: Kira C. (Washington Tech)
• 10th: Harrison S. (Plymouth)
• 11th: Jamilete T. M.(Risen Christ)
• 12th: Giovanna V. N. (Risen Christ)
• 13th: Xavier H. (Plymouth)
• 14th: Alaine L. (Robbinsdale)
• 15th: Zamarriah S.Brooklyn Center)
• 16th: Katine Y. (Washington Technology Magnet School)
• 17th: Gus J. (Justice Page Middle School)
• 18th: Gage K. (Centennial Middle School)
• 19th: Imohang R. (Robbinsdale)
• 20th: Thomas G. (Franklin Middle School)

Novice Division

Your Novice Division champions were Antoinette K. & Iqra M. from St. Louis Park Middle School! Both also earned Top 5 speaker awards.

Congratulations to our novice finalists, Chloe G. & Ally T., whose school (FAIR Crystal) joined our league for the first time this year!

Novice Partnership Awards (Top 10)

• Champions: Antoinette K. & Iqra M. (St. Louis Park)
• Finalists: Chloe G. & Ally T. (FAIR Crystal)
• 3rd: Jamila A. & Loretta S. (Justice Page)
• 4th: Carina C. & Aurora R. (Capitol Hill)
• 5th: Petra M. (Murray MS)
• 6th: Citlalli V.-G.(Sojourner Truth Academy)
• 7th: Stein & Nora M. (Sanford Middle)
• 8th: Willa B. & Angela Q. (Yinghua Academy)
• 9th: MaryAnn M.& Nathan V. (John Glenn MS)
• 10th: Harry J.W. & Samantha M. (Yinghua Academy)

Novice Speaker Awards (Top 15)

• Top Speaker: Harry J.W. (Yinghua Academy)
• 2nd: Citlalli V.G. (Sojourner Truth)
• 3rd: Antoinette K. (St. Louis Park)
• 4th: Iqra M. (St. Louis Park)
• 5th: Samantha M. (Yinghua)
• 6th: Jasmine P. (John Glenn)
• 7th: Nora M. (Sanford)
• 8th: Cassidy X. (John Glenn)
• 9th: Loretta S. (Justice Page)
• 10th: Avi W. (Highland Park)
• 11th: Chloe G. (FAIR Crystal)
• 12th: Ally T. (FAIR Crystal)
• 13th: Gabriel M. (Anthony Middle School)
• 14th: Angela Q. (Yinghua Academy)
• 15th: MaryAnn M. (John Glenn)

Junior Varsity Division

Najma A. and Amira S. from Justice Page Middle School took home the Champion trophy for the Junior Varsity Division! This was a huge division with over 80 speakers – making it to the top is an impressive feat!

Capitol Hill Magnet School’s Marji H. and Ella K. were finalists in the Junior Varsity division! Last year, they also earned their place as Finalists in the Junior Varsity division – we admire your consistency!

JV Partnership Awards (Top 20)

• Champions: Najma A. & Amira S. (Justice Page)
• Runner Ups: Ella K. & Marji H. (Capitol Hill)
• 3rd: Mattias K. & Elsa R. (Yinghua Academy)
• 4th: Liam B. (Sanford)
• 5th: Elias K. & Ikeah H. (Murray MS)
• 6th: Gabe A. & Margaux W. (Yinghua Academy)
• 7th: Grant B. (Yinghua Academy)
• 8th: Liam S. & Leila H. (Capitol Hill)
• 9th: Emma R. & Lyra K. (Hidden River MS)
• 10th: Helen C. & Delcie L. (Sanford MS)
• 11th: Nora C. & Emmeline B. (Capitol Hill)
• 12th: Isabella M. & Penelope T. (Highland Park)
• 13th: Lilly K. & Raheem N. (Hidden River)
• 14th: Mia S. (Highland Park)
• 15th: Evelyn S.B.& Joy G. & Oliver (Capitol Hill)
• 16th: Maydi L. & Malcolm O. (Sanford)
• 17th: Theo J. & Henry D. (Sanford)
• 18th :Yasmine H. & Everly G. D. (Hidden River)
• 19th: John T.H. & Cassius S.W. (Justice Page)
• 20th: Max S. & Jack G. (Hidden River)

JV Speaker Awards (Top 30)

• Top JV Speaker: Najma A. (Justice Page)
• 2nd: Amira S. (Justice Page)
• 3rd: Leila H. (Capitol Hill)
• 4th: Grant B. (Yinghua Academy)
• 5th: Helen C. (Sanford)
• 6th: Emma R. (Hidden River)
• 7th: Liam S. (Capitol Hill)
• 8th: Marji H. (Capitol Hill)
• 9th: Lyra K. (Hidden River)
• 10th: Delcie L. (Sanford)
• 11th: Najma A.(Skyview)
• 12th: Anisa S. (Skyview)
• 13th: Ella K. (Capitol Hill)
• 14th: Mattias K. (Yinghua)
• 15th: Penelope T. (Highland Park)
• 16th: Lorena J.A.(Highland Park)
• 17th: Lilly K. (Hidden River)
• 18th: Emmeline B. (Capitol Hill)
• 19th: Nora C. (Capitol Hill)
• 20th: Elsa R. (Yinghua)
• 21st: Destiny M. (Hidden River)
• 22nd: Jude H. (Justice Page)
• 23rd: Julia G. (Anthony MS)
• 24th: Evangeline S. (Skyview MS)
• 25th: Sawda H. (Skyview MS)
• 26th: Winnie S. (Skyview MS)
• 27th: Tiya A. (Skyview MS)
• 28th: Liam B. (Sanford)
• 29th: Mya F. (John Glenn)
• 30th: Elias K. (Murray MS)

 

Varsity Division

Please send your congratulations to the Varsity Debate Champions, Lexi W. and John L. from Yinghua Academy! Last year, Lexi and John were runner-ups in the Novice division – we’re impressed by how far they’ve come over the course of just one season!

As in the Junior Varsity division, the runner-ups were from Capitol Hill Magnet School: congratulations to Arya F. and Zadie H.!

Varsity Partnership Awards (Top 2)

• 1st: Lexi W. & John L. (Yinghua Academy)
• 2nd: Magnet Arya F. & Zadie H. (Capitol Hill)

Varsity Speaker Awards (Top 4) 

• 1st: Zadie H. (Capitol Hill Magnet)
• 2nd: Lexi W. (Yinghua)
• 3rd: John L. (Yinghua)
• 4th: Arya F. (Capitol Hill Magnet)

Thank you to everyone who made it a great season of debate! Our dedicated coaches, invested school leaders and communities, and generous volunteers helped make it happen. We want to send a special shout out to the parents and families who joined our debate community by giving their unconditional support to our debaters as learned to speak out across the season.

Find more photos of debate rounds and awards at Marina Que’s gallery!