The CT Middle School Debate League (CTMSDL) held its 2023-24 season championship tournament on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Bethel Middle School. To qualify, debaters had to have scored among the top 15 speakers and/or teams during the regular season. The prep ahead motion was: This House believes that only violent criminals should be incarcerated. The third round was extemporaneous. Teams chose among the following three motions: This House would allow formerly incarcerated persons to serve on juries; This House would grant incarcerated workers the same labor protections afforded to other U.S. workers; and This House, as a Middle Schooler, would turn in a friend for cheating.

Results can be found on Tabroom.

Stamford and Wilton (Middlebrook School) competed in the Final Round. The Middlebrook team of Arav Gupta, Gopika Kaimal & Nadia Khan took first place (a repeat performance from last year!) over Leia Potenza, Hillary Ho & Amelia Nandikesan from Stamford schools on a 2-1 decision. Westfield Academy took third place and Bethel teams placed fourth and fifth.

Leia Potenza from Scofield Magnet Middle School in Stamford was our top place speaker followed by Kruthika Tanniru from Irving A. Robbins in 2nd, Arnav Chakraborty from Bethel in 3rd, Tejaswi Sirkonda from Irving A. Robbins in 4th, and Trisha Sharma from Bethel in 5th.

Many thanks to our 16 judges, including 11 high school debaters; to Bethel Coach Cathy Emerick and her team for hosting; to Jennifer Hunt for tabbing; and, to Mike Panoli for logistics. Thanks also go out to the coaches and parents for their support and to the Greenwich Branch of the English Speaking Union for its sponsorship.

Contact Jennifer Posner  (jenposnerctmsdebateorg)   with any questions, concerns or suggestions.