Vanessa and Brooklyn celebrate their victories.

Tournament One Wrap-Up

The Bay Area Urban Debate League hosted its first competition this weekend at UC Berkeley, and it was a smashing success. Nineteen teams from ten schools competed in three rounds of policy debate, many of them for the first time. Challenged to think on their feet and to speak articulately and persuasively about important social and political issues, the courage and talent of these students amazed everyone in attendance.

Several students felt like conscripts at 9am on Saturday morning – pressured by their teachers, parents, and peers to participate. Every last one of them left Cal-Berkeley feeling proud and accomplished, thrilled about their experience and eager to perform even better at BAUDL’s next tournament on November 15th.

Congratulations to Oakland High’s Tommy Nguyen and Christopher Pulu for taking home the top team prize and becoming the first ever BAUDL Season Opener Champions! Also, congratulations to Natassija Jordan from Cal Prep, who won the Top Speaker Award! These students competed with distinction and integrity, demonstrating even in this early stage the spirit of excellence that is the foundation of the BAUDL.

Our thanks go out to all of you who came out to Cal-Berkeley to witness this incredible display of talent on behalf of Oakland’s high schoolers, including Mary Buttler, Executive Officer-Instructional Services for Oakland Unified School District who had this to say about the event:

“I want this program to reach more students as you do. I can see we are on our way by looking at the excitement on Saturday. As time goes on, we will identify students who will be forever motivated by participation in this debate program.”

Also, a few more thanks are in order. First, to all of our incredible judges and mentors, who are too many to name but who’s dedication and enthusiasm were the motors of success on Saturday, as always. Finally, to Greg Achten, Director of Debate at Cal-Berkeley, who graciously offered to host the tournament. Greg is an outstanding friend, an amazing and distinguished debate coach, and dedicated supporter of the BAUDL.

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Continue reading ‘BAUDL’s First Tournament’

Sept 27th: Weekend Workshop #1

The Bay Area Urban Debate League held its first ever Saturday workshop this weekend, from 10am – 3pm at Dewey Academy in downtown Oakland. The response from the students was overwhelming. We had 30 students show up from 8 different schools. What’s more, over half of these brilliant young people participated in their first ever debate round! We had an enormous amount of support from incredibly dedicated volunteers, all of whom are owed immeasurable gratitude.

It was simply amazing to see so many students “catch the debate bug,” as an excitement for advocacy and argument spread throughout them. These high schoolers came to life, expressing themselves passionately and eloquently. It was often difficult to get them to stop debating when the timer went off! Even the most hesitant among them found their voices and spoke up with most impressive zeal.

I was particularly proud of the turnout from one of our smaller schools, Media Academy. Coached by an enthusiastic young teacher with all sorts of responsibilities on her plate, this school seemed especially stressed at the beginning of the semester. The coach had expressed to me anxiety about getting students involved and committed with such little time to recruit. Well, on Saturday morning, hers was the first car in the parking lot, totally stuffed with students and trailed by 2 parents’ cars packed full as well! All of our students, by virtue of their participation, demonstrated to us, once again, how apparent the thirst for debate is in Oakland public high schools.

Oct 11th: Tournament # 1

Two weeks from now, on Saturday, October 11th, the Bay Area Urban Debate League will host its first ever high school policy debate tournament. Students from 10 Oakland high schools will descend on the Cal-Berkeley campus to match wits and attempt to prove themselves the best and brightest among their peers. This will be an extremely exciting event and we encourage you to attend. Come by Dwinelle hall (it’s on the intersection of University and Sather, just near the campus entrance at Telegraph and Bancroft) to experience the inaugural competition for both the students and the league. Rounds are scheduled for 10:30am, 12:30pm, and 2:30pm. Our awards assembly – the most exciting of all BAUDL events – is scheduled to begin at 4:30pm.
If you’re free, we’d love to see you!

Stay Tuned

More exciting news from the BAUDL is coming soon. Keep your eyes open for a brand new website, as well as photos of our fledgling young leaders in action!