Over the past weekend, three students made the journey over to RE Mountain school to participate in BC qualifiers for debate. This event invites the top 28 students in BC to participate in a Worlds Style event, with three being selected to compete late in the year for a spot on the National team. Charlotte Brady, Sofie Finn Storan and Anders Woodruff were all chosen to participate in this event.
This is a unique event that is very demanding on students. Students compete as individuals, changing roles and sides each round. While the intention is to identify yourself as good speakers, there is also emphasis placed on ensuring there is a team dynamic a difficult thing to do when partners change each round.
This requires a significant amount of skill as students must adapt to their teammates' styles. The topics themselves, such as addiction treatment and other issues, are set so that judges can evaluate a students ability to perform at a worlds level.
GNS's results were amazing for this event! All three of our students progressed to the semi-final rounds. Anders narrowly missed progressing to finals, while Sofie and Charlotte both advanced to compete against each other.
Ultimately both Sofie and Charlotte were selected as two out of the three students to compete for a spot on the worlds team at an event that will be held in Halifax in April, while Anders has been encouraged to submit an alternate application. This is the first time that two students from GNS have been selected at the same time, and speaks to the talent of both students.
Amazing work, Gryphons!
