PSHS
Students Qualify to Compete in 'Sweet 16'
Debate
December 2, 2005
Plano Senior High School recently advanced to the “Sweet
16” single-elimination round of a national debate tournament.
By advancing to this round, the school remains eligible for a $5,000
first-place prize and an all-expense-paid trip to the finals competition
in New York.
Cheryl Potts is the debate coach at Plano Senior High School.
Local students participating in the tournament are Judy Bao, Christine
Tian and Gary Wang.
Plano Senior High School was recognized as one of the “Sweet
16” schools for the 2005-2006 National Public Policy
Forum (NPPF), the only national contest that gives high school
students across the nation the opportunity to participate in written
and oral debates on issues of public policy. The school advanced
to the elimination round after it submitted a qualifying round
essay that was judged to be one of the best in the nation.
Approximately 40 high schools and 250 students (representing 20
states) participated in the contest, submitting essays on the topic, “Resolved:
The United States federal government should substantially limit
its ability to detain individuals without charge.”
As one
of the top 16 schools, Plano Senior High School will now compete
in a written debate against Hosto-Lincoln Academy in Bronx, NY,
as the two schools volley debates back and forth on this public
policy issue. A panel of judges will review the papers in the
order they are presented and vote for the winning school.
The winner
will advance to the next round to face another school. This
format continues for several rounds until there are four teams
remaining.
“Plano Senior High School did an extraordinary job in the
qualifying round of the competition,” said William A. Brewer,
III, partner at the law firm of Bickel & Brewer and co-founder
of The Bickel & Brewer Foundation. “The school now advances
to what we think is one of the most challenging and rewarding debate
formats in the nation – a single-elimination tournament involving
16 schools from around the country.”
The top four schools receive an all-expense-paid trip to the April
21-23, 2006, finals at New York University. Finalists are honored
during a special banquet and awards ceremony, and their schools
will receive cash prizes of up to $5,000.
The NPPF was founded
by The Bickel & Brewer Foundation in 2001, and is now jointly
administered with New York University. The program is available
to all high schools nationwide – public and private – for
free. Since its inception, the NPPF has awarded more than $200,000
in support of forensic activities at the secondary school and collegiate
level.
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