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Bridgeport Students Choose Words Carefully As They Team Up To Debate

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- When teams of middle school students descended upon the gym Saturday morning at Park City Magnet School in Bridgeport, it was for a contest of a different kind.

Alexa Boyle and Beza Tessema, both 12, are seventh-graders at Park City Magnet School. They said debating can be nerve-wracking but fun.

Alexa Boyle and Beza Tessema, both 12, are seventh-graders at Park City Magnet School. They said debating can be nerve-wracking but fun.

Photo Credit: Karen Tensa
Luis Gonzalez and Breanaan Sha from Roosevelt School begin their debate.

Luis Gonzalez and Breanaan Sha from Roosevelt School begin their debate.

Photo Credit: Karen Tensa
Becca Steinberg, a senior at Yale, works as a coach. She came to the debate Saturday to tabulate the results.

Becca Steinberg, a senior at Yale, works as a coach. She came to the debate Saturday to tabulate the results.

Photo Credit: Karen Tensa
Ron Rapine, a TAG teacher in Bridgeport, sets a high standard for the debates. "We don't want to dummy it down."

Ron Rapine, a TAG teacher in Bridgeport, sets a high standard for the debates. "We don't want to dummy it down."

Photo Credit: Karen Tensa
Two teams prepare to face-off as judge Cheryl Krevia goes over the rules.

Two teams prepare to face-off as judge Cheryl Krevia goes over the rules.

Photo Credit: Karen Tensa
Teams take 20 minutes to prepare for the debate after getting the question.

Teams take 20 minutes to prepare for the debate after getting the question.

Photo Credit: Karen Tensa
Teams take 20 minutes to prepare for the debate after getting the question.

Teams take 20 minutes to prepare for the debate after getting the question.

Photo Credit: Karen Tensa

The students, all in Grades 6 to 8, have been researching, practicing and preparing for months to take part in the in the first Debate League events in decades in Bridgeport and the first-ever for middle schoolers. A total of 28 teams of students from eight different schools took part in the event, the second held this school year.

“The work the kids have to put into is phenomenal,” said Ron Rapine, a TAG teacher for the district’s Swing Space. “It’s unusual to do it with students this young, but I wanted to do this earlier to get them ready for high school.”

To students competed head-to-head in pairs on three different topics involving the environment. They earned points for their team and for their school along the way.

"These kids know how to think, how to analyze, how to synthesize," Rapine said. 

Alexa Boyle and Beza Tessema, seventh-graders at Park City Magnet, debate together as a team.

“I joined debate because I like to argue with my teachers and parents,” Beza said. “Lots of our friends play basketball -- they don’t understand this. They think it’s hard, but it’s not.”

Alexa agreed. “It’s fun to do the research,” she said. “Some of the questions we are prepared for, some we do off the tops of our heads. It’s fun to vamp.”

For the debate, the students were given a resolution -- “The House seeks to ban animal testing” was the first of three on Saturday -- and have 20 minutes to prepare.

The students debate under a formal but modified parliamentary debate format with principals and administrators serving as judges.

Becca Steinberg is one of the members of the Yale Debate Association who coached the middle schoolers.

“The kids are good at getting arguments because they are really smart,” Steinberg said. “They need to learn how to do counter-arguments.”

Steinberg, who will join Teach for America when she graduates, says the kids are “amazing.”

“They are here at 9 a.m. on a Saturday, all dressed up, with such innocent eagerness,” she said. “They are all here because they want to be here. These are kids who want to challenge themselves by doing intellectual exercises.”

Weekly training sessions were held, but often the students put in more time, she said.

“When the kids want to do more, you just can’t say no."

 

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