Warwick Academy are the new middle school debate champions after their team of Chiara Marshall, Conor Hay and Katarina Thompson won all four rounds of the debate portion of the Bermuda Public Speaking and Debate Competition held at Bermuda High School on Saturday.

The prepared motion for the day was “This house believes that cellphones should be banned in schools”, while the impromptu motion was “This house believes that reality TV does more good than harm”.

The two “veteran” Year Nine students, supported by newcomer Ms Thompson from Year Seven, opposing the motion, won the first round unanimously against BHS A, while as proposition against the Dynamic Debaters, they won the second round on a split decision. Opposing the impromptu motion against Saltus B, they again won with a split decision.

For the final round, they opposed the prepared motion once more, facing a very strong and confident Saltus A team, and again won on a split decision.

The judges commented on the strength of the Warwick Academy team’s content and strategy, noting that in the Bermuda debates they counted far more heavily than did style.

“I thought that the debate was really fun,” Ms Thompson said, “and winning was just the icing on the cake. It was a really good experience.”

Mr Hay concurred. “It was a fun and good experience,” he said, “and I found debating against other schools enjoyable.”

Ms Marshall concluded: “Even though I’ve been debating for what seems like for ever, my heart always pounded when the judges announced who won. Debating is so much fun; I recommend it to anyone.”