The BAUDL is off the ground and running strongly. If there were any doubts about the durability of debate programs in Oakland’s most deserving schools, they were laid to rest on Saturday. About 50 students competed in the BAUDL Fall Classic, our second tournament of the year, despite the fact that it was homecoming weekend at many of our schools. This demonstrates the dedication and commitment of our students – they chose to spend their Saturday at a rigorous academic competition rather than join many of their peers at the football game. This is the impact that debate makes on the lives of high schoolers, and after only two and half months!
Cal Prep's Alana Banks and Carlene Ervin, third place team in the Fall Classic, celebrate their victories.
BEST and EXCEL were the gracious hosts of our tournament (special thanks to Karen Todd and Yetunde Reeves, their respective principals), which was held on the McClymonds campus in West Oakland. BAUDL buses transported students from all over the city to be there at 9am, ready to compete in 3 rounds of policy debate. As always, the 4:30pm Awards Assembly was tremendously encouraging for all of us whose energy went in to the day. There have never been more excited tournament champions than Skyline’s Kayla Wheatfall and Zach Seidl, who erupted from their chairs to receive their trophies and a big, long standing ovation from all of their peers. Incredibly, another Skyline student, Mya Whitaker, who was debating for the first time on Saturday, won the Top Individual Speaker Award.
Skyline had quite an impressive weekend. There is no doubt that the other BAUDL schools, including last month’s champions, Oakland High, will be preparing over the next month to take them down when BAUDL meets again on December 13th for the Winter Debates.
For full results, click more.
Full Results…
Top 15 Teams:
15. BEST GH (Sharde Hoard and Andra Gadson)
14. Media SS (Tony Srimoukda and Johnny Srimoukda)
13. Street Academy WY (Jessica Wynsey and Damiion Yaphet)
12. Oakland High/BEST LO (Cecilia Lopez and Arwa Omar)
11. Street Academy BC (David Benoit and Moises Cruz)
10. Skyline RP (Michael Rezaee and Kyle Phillips)
9. Media RS (Elizabeth Rodriguez and Brandon Sneed)
8. BEST MN (Dominique Moncrease and Miriam Neal)
7. Media GS (Cristal Gomez and Emely Srimoukda)
6. Cal Prep JT (Natassija Jordan and Jonathan Turner)
5. Skyline WC (Mya Whitaker and Rashid Campbell)
4. Skyline CR (Imani Cole and Christine Reed)
3. Cal Prep BE (Alana Banks and Carlene Ervin)
2. Cal Prep RT (Jackie Rouse and Kenyatta Traylor)
1. Skyline SW (Zach Seidl and Kayla Wheatfall)
Top 10 Novice Speakers:
10. Miriam Neal (BEST)
9. Kenyatta Traylor (Cal Prep)
8. Jennifer Lopez (Media)
7. Moises Cruz (Street Academy)
6. Arielle Andrade (Architecture)
5. Boris Aguillera (Media)
4. Damiion Yaphet (Street Academy)
3. Stephanie Lopez (Media)
2. Carolina Gonzales (Robeson)
1. Nasser Ali (EXCEL)
Top 20 Varsity Individual Speakers:
20. Cristal Gomez (Media)
19. Elizabeth Rodriguez (Media)
18. Lovell Lynch (Street Academy)
17. Cecilia Lopez (Oakland High)
16. Arwa Omar (BEST)
15. Jackie Rouse (Cal Prep)
14. Emely Srimoukda (Media)
13. Rashid Campbell (Skyline)
12. Kayla Wheatfall (Skyline)
11. Jonathan Turner (Cal Prep)
10. Dominique Moncrease (BEST)
9. Sharde Hoard (BEST)
8. Imani Cole (Skyline)
7. Johnny Srimoukda (Media)
6. Tanesha Walker (EXCEL)
5. Jessica Winsey (Street Academy)
4. Christine Reed (Skyline)
3. Zach Seidl (Skyline)
2. Natassija Jordan (Cal Prep)
1. Mya Whitaker (Skyline)
