On Saturday, October 26, 2024, 235 middle school debaters from eleven schools competed in the CT Middle School Debate League’s (CTMSDL) season opener, a scrimmage for Novices and a tournament for Open Level debaters. They debated the motion: 

This House would make voting compulsory. 

Sixty-seven high school debaters and parents volunteered as judges, making the day possible.

Thank you to the Greenwich Branch of the English Speaking Union for their sponsorship.

Results may be accessed on Tabroom under Results for CTMSDLOct26.

Four Open Level teams from Westfield Academy and Bethel Middle School won all three of their rounds.

The Westfield Academy team of Lin, Pennington & Mohapatra took first place Open Level team.

Hillary Ho from Dolan Middle School in Stamford was the highest scoring speaker of the day.

Special thanks go to all of our indefatigable judges and coaches, and especially Jennifer Hunt and Everett Rutan for her tabbing help.

The CTMSDL’s next tournament will be held at Seymour High School on December 14, 2024. The topic will be: This House believes that schools should ban smart phones and watches only during instructional time instead of from bell-to-bell.

Photo Top: Hillary Ho, first place speaker (right), poses with Stamford teammate.
Photo Bottom: Students from Bethel Middle School placed second in the team competition. Anirudh Gautham (center) was the third place speaker.