The tradition carries on as the 27th Annual Pumpkin Debate Classic was held at JL Crowe on Saturday.
Final results are in with the winners of each of the categories are listed below.
Teams participated from Revelstoke Secondary, Stanley Humphries, Kinnaird Elementary (Castlegar), L.V. Rogers (Nelson), Seven Summits (Rossland) and J.L. Crowe.
The topic for the junior and senior categories was: “Be it resolved that communities should cull urban wildlife.”
The controversial topic posed the concerns of danger and safety with the infiltration of humans on the natural environment.
Passion was high for both sides as coyotes, bear, moose, pigeons, rabbits, deer, and badgers all took center stage in the unfolding of the discussion.
As for the students, they realized it is not as cut and dry as some would believe.
The junior category included students as young as Grade 6 and resulted in a variety of school team placements.
Jessica Smithies and Caitlyn Kellendonk from Kinnaird Elementary received commendation for their courage to participate against students as high as Grade 10.
Individually, Gillian Wiley of LV Rogers placed first; Lily Huttemann, a Rossland export to LV Rogers came in second place, and Aven Cosbey, of JL Crowe was third.
The junior team results saw the LV Roger’s pair of Lily Huttemann and Annabel Vrba come first, Silk Edwards and Gillian Wiley also of LVR take second place, and Eliza Dawson and Keegan Fry of JL Crowe place third.
In all, 30 students participated in this category. The students debated both in the cross-examination format as well as the Canadian National Debate Format (CNDF).
The senior category rankings were shared by three schools from within the region.
Individually, Rachel Aiken of Rossland’s Seven Summits (SS) took first place, Maggie Chan and Alex Stephens of JL Crowe tied for second, and, Hannah Klemenson of Rossland (SS) was third.
In the team results, Rachel Aiken and Hannah Klemenson (SS) placed first; Maggie Chan and Alex Stephens from JL Crowe were second, and Zorn Rose and Natasha Bergman of LVR, third.
Students may now look forward to the next tournament to be held at LV Rogers in Nelson on Jan. 17.
This tourney will have the students practicing their impromptu style debating and public speaking skills.
A very big thank you to all the community members who volunteered their time to encourage our future citizens grow their presentation skill set.