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Results and Reports
Ten Chicago Public High Schools competed at five tournaments during this year's debate season. There were 801 policy debates in the Chicago Public Schools (4.3 million seconds of debate, for those who like large numbers), about double last year's total; prior to that there hadn't been any. All those who had the chance to be at any of our tournaments know from the quality of the debates they witnessed that the hours our students and coaches spent preparing for these events were virtually countless.
What follows is a report of the competitive results and a brief narrative from each tournament.
October 17, 1998
FROM THE TOURNAMENT BOOKLET:
"Welcome to the 1998 Second Annual Bogan Debate Season Opener!!
On behalf of the Chicago Debate Commission and the Chicago Public
Schools, we are excited to have you take part in the beginning of the second
year of the Policy Debate Project, designed to reestablish interscholastic debate
in the public high schools of this city. The CDC believes that academic debate
has unmatched power as an educational mechanism. Policy debate has a single
central end: to develop in students the crucial ability to think critically,
central to thriving in a society increasingly dominated by information processing
and analysis, and the highest of the higher-order thinking skills. The Chicago
suburbs have had a well-funded and well-developed debate network for generations;
city students are deserving of the same opportunity. We thank you for being
part of a project designed to give it to them.
If you have any questions of concerns during the tournament, please bring them
to the attention of Les Lynn, CDC Coordinator, or to one of the Tournament Co-Directors,
Ms. Linda Mayfield or Ms. Nicole Hudson-Lucas. We very much hope you enjoy the
experience here today, while you observe what we believe are the Project's merits."
We had two divisions in the CDC this year: Junior Varsity (first-year debaters,
what the national circuit calls"novice') and Varsity (all secondyear debaters,
and those especially intrepid firstyears). In Junior Varsity, 52 teams entered,
in Varsity 18 teams entered. That there were only five schools in our UDL last
year explains the disparity in numbers (true all year long): our first-year
division drew on students from all ten schools, while our second-year division
drew on students from only five.
The Bogan Tournament was our single one-day tournament -- the other four were tow-day tournaments with elimination rounds -- so we gave team awards based on records after four rounds.
Teams Entered
Junior Varsity: 50
Varsity: 22
Competition Results
Junior Varsity: Top Ten Teams
1. Bogan AC (Andrew Jones and Charles O'Hearn) 4-0 (109)
2. Farragut CN (Cynthia Ferreira and Nelly Montoya) 4-0 (108)
3. Morgan Park KT (Kelly Jones and Toya Murray) 4-0 (107)
4. Whitney Young S (Sam Sharp) 4-0 (57)
5. Farragut AG (Antonio Orozco and Grace Gallegos) 3-1 (106)
6. Hubbard SW (Sandra Villagomez and Wendy Castaneda) 3-1 (105 212)
7. Whitney Young MA/NH (Matthew Arnette and Nicholas Heywood) 3-1 (105/208)
8. Farragut CA/JR (Carlos Alvarez and Johnny Rivera) 3-1 (102/206)
9. Whitney Young FJ (Fred Anguiano and Jacob Angel) 3-1 (102/200)
10. Whitney Young JR (Jane Kim and Rachel Dean) 3-1 (101)
Junior Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Sharice Lane, Morgan Park 58/115
2. Bryan Grimmage, Morgan Park 56/110/7
3. Angelica Bravo, Whitney Young 56/110/8
4. Charles O'Hearn, Bogan 56/108
5. Blair Cartlidge, Mather 55.3
6. Kelly Jones, Morgan Park 55/110.5
7. Marilyn Saavedra, Mather 55/107
8. Ebonie Durham, Whitney Young 54.5
9. Demetrius Bedell, Morgan Park 54.3
10. Antonio Orozco, Farragut 54
Varsity: Top Eight Teams
1. Morgan Park ST (Sharone Mitchell and Tracy Carson) 4-0 (115)
2. Morgan Park DR (Dominique Brewer and Rhonda Bynum) 4-0 (113.5)
3. Morgan Park DM (David Mccowan and Mercedes MacDonald) 4-0 (112.3)
4. Morgan Park JL (Jason Green and Latonya Starks) 4-0 (111)
5. Morgan Park JN (Juanita Wilson and Nnechelle Middleton) 4-0 (110)
6. Whitney Young W (Willie Tanzman) 3-1
7. Whitney Young JT (John Edgerton and Tom Jacobs) 2-2 (111.5)
8. Whitney Young AM/ES (Anu Manocha and Eugene Schiff 2-2 (110)
Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Tracy Carson, Morgan Park 58
2. Sharone Mitchell, Morgan Park 57/114
3. Dominique Brewer, Morgan Park 57/113
4. David Mccowan, Morgan Park 56.5/114
5. Tom Jacobs, Whitney Young 56.5/112.5
6. Anu Manocha, Whitney Young 56.2
7. Rhonda Bynum, Morgan Park 56/112.5
S. Aaron Phillips, Morgan Park 56/112
9. Jessica Barrientos, Whitney Young 56/109
10. Mercedes MacDonald, Morgan Park 55.8
At each tournament we also gave out Principal's Awards. These
honored students for demonstrating virtuous character, independent of competitive
performance, in debate or debaterelated activities. Coaches nominated up to
two of their students before each tournament; the CDC chose (generally) five
winners, announcing them at each Award's Assembly. In addition to the recognition,
the winners received a varying prize, such as a Michael Jordan wristwatch, a
Borders Books and Music gift certificate, or a Northwestern University leather-bound
writing pad.
At Bogan, the Principal's Award winners were:
Willie Tanzman, Whitney Young for Ambition and Courage (he debated maverick in the Varsity Division at his first debate tournament)
Monica Merriweather, Morgan Park for Reliability and Helpfulness at every debate team meeting
Misty Richmond, Lindblom for Dedication and Respectfulness
Jessie Daniels, Lindblom for Initiative and Hard Work
Antonio Orozco, Farragut for Leadership and Organization, especially in organizing and maintaining the team files and in training the junior members of the team.
Narrative
For the second year in a row, Bogan opened the CDC season with excitement and panache. The school furnished a large number of student assistants from the NHS and JROTC programs to help direct people around the building, and to help with tournament administration. Everyone had access to complementary donuts, juice, and coffee in the morning. In the afternoon, even though the weather wasn't as enjoyable as last year's, the barbecue for lunch certainly was.
For a rather large number of people, Bogan's was the very first debate tournament they had ever seen, not to say participated in. With that in mind, the tournament ran very smoothly: all scheduled debates took place, many were substantive, some surprisingly so, and all were executed within the rigorous policy debate format, and we ended within thirty minutes of the scheduled time.
Our judging pool was fortified by a contingent that have been
crucial to our ability to run tournaments throughout our two years: community
volunteers and parents-. People like Barry Pienton, Tom Hoguiesson, Gail Angel,
Bob and Cynthia Heywood Gloria WIlliams-Mccowan, Jason Epstein, Allen Hailey,
Amy Epton, and many others contributed their time all year, and supplied a necessary
(and highly instructive, in fact) portion of our judging. Our tireless and indefatigable
Judge
Coordinator (and soul of the Project) Betty Willhoite did the consistent work
necessary to solicit and secure their involvement.
In the competition, the JV field was fairly wide open: the top six teams came from five different schools. The top team, Charles and Andrew from Bogan, continued the curious pattern discernible in last year's results that seemed to favor somewhat the host school -- for what reasons, exactly, no one has quite figured out. In the Varsity, this tournament clearly marked Morgan Park's declaration of intent to the rest of the league: they would (in the memorable words of their UDL progenitors from Therrell High School in Atlanta) be"faking No Prisoners."They put the other schools on notice. Whitney Young, the other half of our league's main rivalrous duo last season, would have to have to go back home and"make some adjustments"(in sportspeak); later tournaments would reveal whether or not they did.
November 13 and 14, 1998
Teams Entered
Junior Varsity -- 50
Varsity -- 20
Junior Varsity Team Results
Final Round
Farragut CA/JR (Carlos Alvarez and Johnny Rivera) Beat Mather AP (Adisa Krupalija and Patrick Vega).
Semis
Mather AP Beat Hubbard CD (Chioma Engwogu and Diana Mendoza).
Farragut CA/JR Closed Out Farragut CN (Cynthia Ferreira and NeIly Montoya) (Was
this the moment that helped bring these two teams closer together?)
Quarters
Mather AP Beat Whitney Young AD (Angelica Bravo and David Angel).
Farragut CN Beat Whitney Young MM (Mengyao Liang and Mike McGourgy).
Hubbard CD Beat Whitney Young JN (Jane Kim and Nia Duokof).
Farragut CA/JR Beat Mather MN (Mary Czerwinski and Nathan Hernandez).
Varsity Team Results
Final Round
Morgan Park JN (Juanita Wilson and Nichelle Middleton) Closed Out Morgan Park DM (David Mccowan and Mercedes MacDonald).
Semis
Morgan Park JN Beat Whitney Young AM/ES (Anu Manocha and Eugene Schiff).
Morgan Park DM Closed Out Morgan Park DR (Dominique Brewer and Rhonda Bynum).
Quarters
Morgan Park DM Beat Bogan DL (Demarko Glover and Leora Tyree).
Morgan Park JN Beat Whitney Young EV (Emma Poon and Vince Lee).
Morgan Park DR Closed Out Morgan Park JL (Jason Green and Latonya Starks).
Whitney Young AM/ES Bear Lindblom MT (Misty Richmond and Tiffany Berry).
Junior Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Vida Ghaizasi, Mather 86
2. Angelica Bravo, Whitney Young 85/143/5
3. Blair Cartlidge, Mather 85/143/11
4. Adisa Kruplalija, Mather 85/139
5. Elizabeth Hueramu, Farragut 85/136
6. Ali Patel, Whitney Young 84/138
7. Johnny Rivera, Farragut 84/136
S. Alyse Hammonds, Whitney Young 83/138/10
9. Sam Sharp, Whitney Young 83/138/12
10. Nekisha Harris, Morgan Park 83/137
Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Juanita Wilson, Morgan Park 85
2. Anu Manocha, Whitney Young 84/140/7
3. Latonya Starks, Morgan Park 84/140/8/14*
4. Dominique Brewer, Morgan Park 84/140/8/9*
5. David Mccowan, Morgan Park 84/139/6
6. Aaron Phillips, Morgan Park 84/139/11
7. Jessica Barrientos, Whitney Young 84/138.5
8. Tracy Carson, Morgan Park 83.4
9. Willie Tanzman, Whitney Young 83/138/11/15*
10. Misty Richmond, Lindblom 83/138/11/13*
*Number of Opponents' Wins
Principal's Awards
Gary Sistrunk, Englewood Tech for Leadership and Team Spirit and Support
Alpha Davis, Englewood Tech for Organization and Helpfulness
Andrew Smith and Gary Sistrunk, both from Englewood Tech for Team Leadership and Organizational Ability.
Narrative
Our first two-day tournament of the year (and, again, for many people, this was the first one of their lives) went very well. We had a number of guests, too, that made the event special. Dr. Calvin Morris, the Director of the Community Renewal Society (the CDC's parent organization) opened the tournament with a rousing motivational speech, that highlighted the long term benefits that participation in debate, and the commitment to education it denotes, will bring to the students that were in that auditorium on that chilly fall Friday afternoon. Beth Breger, the Open Society Institute's Project Manager in charge of that organization's generous support of UDLs, was also"in the house."She observed some debate with CDC Supervisor Jim Field, and made a very warm statement on behalf of the OSI at our Awards Assembly, underscoring the commonalities in UDLs (e.g., in New York's and Chicago's) that make them educationally and socially valuable, and worth George Soros's support.
Earlier in the day on Friday, the Chicago Public Schools called a press conference downtown, at which it announced the receipt of a substantial grant from the OSI to support the CDC's Policy Debate Project. The CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, Paul Vallas, appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1995 to head the new Reform Board of the public schools, made a surprising announcement behind the podium, in front of the media: because of the success the Project has had in demonstrating the educational worth of interscholastic debate, within four years, all Chicago public high schools (74) would be offered the core funding to have a debate team. All the participants, shown here in this photo, expressed full satisfaction with the event.
A Strong Public-Private Partnership: The OSI, the CPS, and the CDC come together
over the OSI's grant for Chicago Debate (from 1. to r., Les Lynn, Judy StraussLipkin,
Paul Vallas, Beth Breger, Calvin Morris, Jim Field, Seymour Simon, Betty Willhoite,
Edna Pardo).
Back at the tournament, Beth hosted another conference, somewhat less formal and no press, for the coaches, judges, and administrators of the CDC. She wished to get an unmediated account of the condition of the Policy Debate Project from a variety of sources within it. Afterwards, the Awards Assembly featured the pleasing sound: of students cheering for their teammates as prizes were distributed. The excitement continued throughout the elims, as teams could be seen to be really congealing around the topic and the rigorous policy debate format -- good to see.
Regarding the results, Farragut Career Academy must be honored for winning the JV Division; Mather High School, too, had a brilliant showing, advancing a team to the Final Round, and winning three of the top four JV Speaker Awards. Hubbard cannot be left out either, since Diana and Chioma made it as far as the semis. In the Varsity Division, Morgan Park had their way from the semis on, but Lindblom and Bogan should be acknowledged for each having a team make it into the elims.
December 11 and 12, 1998
Teams Entered
Junior Varsity: 43
Varsity: 18
Junior Varsity: Team Results
Final Round
Morgan Park CN (Crystal Holmes and Nneka Dudley) Beat Mather AS (Adisa Krupalija and Sanja Dragovic).
Semis
Mather AS Beat Morgan Park CK (Christopher Davis and Krysta Barton).
Morgan Park CN Closed Out Morgan Park ET (Evelyn Stansberry and Toya Murray).
Quarters
Morgan Park CK Beat Mather KZ (Kristine Rivera and Zaineb Khasamwala).
Morgan Park CN Closed Out Morgan Park BC (Bryan Grimmage and Charles Acox).
Morgan Park ET Beat Steinmetz BV (Brandon Hopkins and Valentina Milovanovic).
Mather AS Beat Whitney Young AE (Alyse Hammonds and Ebony Durham).
Varsity: Team Results
Final Round
Whitney Young AJ (Anu Manocha and John Edgerton) Beat Morgan Park JL (Jason Green and Latonya Starks).
Semis
Whitney Young AJ Beat Morgan Park ST (Sharone Mitchell and Tracy Carson).
Morgan Park JL Closed Out Morgan Park AB (Aaron Phillips and Brittney Blair).
Quarters
Morgan Park ST Beat Whitney Young JJ (Jessica Barrientos and Jessica Sprague)>
Morgan Park JL Closed Out Morgan Park J (Juanita Wilson).
Morgan Park AB Closed Out Morgan Park DR (Dominique Brewer and Rhonda Bynum).
Whitney Young AJ Beat Morgan Park DM (David Mccowan and Mercedes MacDonald).
Junior Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Nelly Montoya, Farragut 87
2. Adisa Krupalija, Mather 86/141/7
3. Ebony Durham, Whitney Young 86/141/10
4. Johnny Rivera, Farragut 85
5. Louis Reeves, Morgan Park 84/140/10
6. Demetrius Bedell, Morgan Park 84/140/11
7. Melissa Cruz, Steinmetz 83.7
8. Nathan Hernandez, Mather 83.5
9. Crystal Holmes, Morgan Park 83/139
10. Diana Mendoza, Hubbard 83/138
Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. David Mccowan, Morgan Park 88.1
2. Latonya Starks, Morgan Park 85.5/142.5/ 7
3. Mercedes MacDonald, Morgan Park 85.5/142.5/11
4. Juanita Wilson, Morgan Park 85/142
5. Sharone Mitchell, Morgan Park 85/140
6. Tracy Carson, Morgan Park 84/140.5
7. Aaron Phillips, Morgan Park 84/140
8. Dominique Brewer, Morgan Park 84/137.5
9. John Edgerton, Whitney Young 83.5/138.5
10. Jason Green, Morgan Park 83/139.5
Narrative
We all came down to one of the anchoring sites of policy debate
in Chicago, Morgan Park High School. The school's mascot, the Mustang, supplied
the tournament's nominal motif, and once again at the varsity level the host
school dictated the standard of competition that other schools would be forced
to try to match. One did of course: a single Whitney Young team (Anu and John)
climbed the bracket, taming the wild horses of Morgan Park's varsity squad like
a veteran western rancher, and winning the tournament. Those same Mustangs barely
allowed room for a single outside speaker award, though.
In the Junior Varsity, the home field advantage seemed to be somewhere behind
the especially strong showing by the Mustangs: three of the four semis teams
were local, as was the winning team, Crystal and Nneka. Mather placed speakers
and elim teams once again, maintaining the consistent awards presence they claimed
all season. A couple of interesting results: Steinmetz's presence in the elims
(a signal of notable development at that program) and the surprising absence
of Farragut in the elims, despite Nelly's Top Speaker.
The Morgan Park tournament was aided by the gracious help of a number of Morgan park parents, serving food, collecting ballots, and offering moral support to the debaters, their own and those from other schools. Morgan Park students also provided significant help in tournament administration. And at another one of our tournaments, the judge pool was substantially expanded quantitatively and qualitatively, by College debaters and coaches -- at this tournament, from Loyola University and all the way from the University of Iowa (whose program has been tremendously supportive of us in a number of important ways), in addition to a group again from Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, Augustana College, and Wheaton College.
January 8 and 9, 1999
Teams Entered
Junior Varsity: 33
Varsity: 14
Junior Varsity: Team Results
Final Round
Whitney Young MS (Mengyao Liang and Sam Sharp) Beat Farragut CA/JR (Carlos Alvarez and Johnny Rivera).
Semis
Farragut CA/ JR Beat Whitney Young AM (Ali Patel and Mike McGourgy).
Whitney Young NIS Beat Morgan Park CE (Crystal Holmes and Evelyn Stansberry).
Quarters
Whitney Young AM Closed Out Whitney Young AS (Alyse Hammonds and Sarah Bury).
Whitney Young NIS Closed Out Whitney Young ED/ RD (Ebony Durham and Rachel Dean).
Morgan Park CE Beat Mather BV (Blair Carlidge and Vida Ghaisi).
Farragut CA/ JR Beat Morgan Park DL (Demetrius Bedell and Louis Reeves).
Varsity: Team Results
Final Round
Whitney Young TW (Tom Jacobs and Willie Tanzman) Beat Morgan Park ST (Sharone Mitchell and Tracy Carson).
Semis
Morgan Park ST Beat Whitney Young AJ (Anu Manocha and John Edgerton).
Whitney Young TW Beat Morgan Park DM (David Mccowan and Mercedes MacDonald).
Quarters
Morgan Park DM Beat Whitney Young JM (Jessica Barrientos and Mohit Manocha).
Morgan Park ST Closed Out Morgan Park DR (Dominque Brewer and Rhonda Bynum).
Whitney Young AJ Beat Morgan Park JL (Jason Green and Latonya Starks).
Whitney Young TW Beat Morgan Park CK (Christopher Davis and Krysta Barton).
Junior Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Sami Abboud, Mather 87.5
2. Marilyn Saavedra, Mather 86
3. Crystal Holmes, Morgan Park 85/142
4. Ali Patel, Whitney Young 85/140
5. Mengyao Liang, Whitney Young 84/140
6. Nelly Montoya, Farragut 84/137/7
7. Mike McGourgy, Whitney Young 84/137/13
8. Nekisha Harris, Morgan Park 84/132
9. Evelyn Stansberry, Morgan Park 83
10. Johnny Rivera, Farragut 82.5
Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Tracy Carson, Morgan Park 86/142.5/9
2. Sharone Mitchell, Morgan Park 86/142.5/12
3. Aaron Phillips, Morgan Park 85/140.5
4. Latonya Starks, Morgan Park 85/139
5. Mercedes MacDonald, Morgan Park 84.5/141.5
6. Anu Manocha, Whitney Young 84.5/140.5
7. David Mccowan, Morgan Park 84/140.5
8. John Edgerton, Whitney Young 84/140/10
9. Mohit Manocha, Whitney Young 84/140/11
10. Jason Green, Morgan Park 83/137
Principal's Award Winners
Brandon Hopkins, Steinmetz Academic Center, for Commitment to the Team and Growth as a Debater
Nelly Montoya, Farragut Career Academy, for Metnorship of Team Members & Competency as a Debater
Sara Bury, Whitney Young H.S., for Dedication to Debate & Fortitude
Kristine Rivera, Mather H.S., for Improvement as a Debater
Continued Enthusiasm -- A Consistent Winning Attitude
Ricardo Farcia, Mather H.S., for Interest in Learning & Loyalty to the Debate Team
Narrative
The first few days of the New Year brought with them a major blizzard in Chicago.
By the end of the first week, the city was still digging out, and schools had just opened after extending the winter break an additional three days. The Whitney Young tournament was deemed runnable, though, since charter bus service had been restored, and both the host school and the CDC considered rescheduling difficult if not impossible, for a variety of logistical reasons. Still, the weather undoubtedly diminished our numbers somewhat, if not the quality of the competition.
Whitney Young had its most successful tournament, winning both the JV and Varsity Divisions. In the Varsity, it had two teams in the semis for the first time all year, and Tom and Willie made a claim to the post position going into the City Championship, climbing through the bracket (and through three Morgan Park teams). In the JV, the competition continued to be fluid. Farragut returned to the elims: Carlos and Johnny advanced to the Finals. Mengyao and Sam came out of the tournament in a favored position for the last tournament, though Christopher and Krysta from Morgan Park debated in the Varsity Division at this tournament (and cleared). A depleted Mather squad (shrunk by the snow storm and a testing date at the school) still managed to win the top two JV Speaker Awards.
February 5 and 6, 1999
Teams Entered
Junior Varsity: 43
Varsity: 16
Junior Varsity: Team Results
Final Round
Morgan Park CN (Crystal Holmes and Nneka Dudley) Closed Out Morgan Park ET (Evelyn Stansberry and Toya Murray).
Semis
Morgan ET Beat Mather MN (Mary Czerwinski and Nathan Hernandez).
Morgan Park CN Beat Whitney Young M (Mengyao Liang).
Quarters
Mather MN Beat Steinmetz BD (Brandon Hopkins and Demetrius Dixon).
Morgan Park CN Beat Whitney Young AM (Alie Patel and Mike McGourgy).
Whitney Young M Beat Mather BV (Blair Cartlidge and Vida Ghaiasi).
Morgan Park ET Beat Whitney Young JM (Jacob Angel and Michael Kniss).
Octos
Steinmetz BD Beat Farragut CN (Cynthia Ferreira and Nelly Montoya).
Morgan Park CN Beat Whitney Young CE (Chris Suarez and Eric Leong).
Mather BV Beat Hubbard CD (Chioma Ngowu and Diana Mendoza).
Whitney Young JM Beat Morgan Park DL (Demetrius Bedell and Louis Reeves).
Whitney Young M Beat Mather AS (Adisa Krupalija and Sanja Dragovic).
Morgan Park ET Closed Out Morgan Park CK (Christopher Davis and Krysta Barton'
Whitney Young AM Closed Out Whitney Young AD Angelica Bravo and David Angel).
Mather MN Closed Out Mather RY (Ricardo Garcia and Yevgeniy Arganov).
Varsity Team Results
Final Round
Whitney Young TW (Tom Jacobs and Willie Tanzman) Beat Morgan Park DM (David Mccowan and Mercedex MacDonald).
Semis
Morgan Park DM Closed Out Morgan Park ST (Sharone Mitchell and Tracy Carson).
Whitney Young TW Beat Morgan Park DR (Dominique Brewer and Rhonda Bynum).
Quarters
Morgan Park DM Closed Out Morgan Park AB (Aaron Phillips and Brittney Blair).
Morgan Park DR Closed Out Morgan Park J (Juanita Wilson).
Whitney Young TW Beat Morgan Park JL (Jason Green and Latonya Starks).
Morgan Park ST Beat Whitney Young AJ (Anu Manocha and John Edgerton).
Junior Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Crystal Holmes, Morgan Park 114.5
I Krysta Barton, Morgan Park 113.5
3. Nelly Montoya, Farragut 112.5
4. Diana Mendoza, Hubbard 112
5. Mengyao Liang, Whitney Young ill
6. Louis Reeves, Morgan Park 110/139
7. Toya Murray, Morgan Park 110/138/55/12
S. Christopher Davis, Morgan Park 110/138/55/15
9. Vida Ghiasi, Mather 109.5/139.5
10. Nneka Dudley, Morgan Park 109.5/138.5
Varsity: Top Ten Speakers
1. Juanita Wilson, Morgan Park 114.5
2. Tracy Carson, Morgan Park 113.5
3. Aaron Phillips, Morgan Park 113/170
4. Dominique Brewer, Morgan Park 113/169.5
5. Anu Manocha, Whitney Young 112.5
6. Jon Edgerton, Whitney Young 111.5/167.5
7. Sharone Mitchell, Morgan Park 111.5/167
8. Tom Jacobs, Whitney Young 111.5/166
9. Rhonda Bynum, Morgan Park 111/166.5/56
10. Latonya Starks, Morgan Park 111/166.5/55.5
Principal's Awards
Krysta Barton, Morgan Park for Constant Desire to Do Her Best and Adaptability
Eric Morris, Whitney Young for Self-Sacrificial Dedication
Elizabeth Hueramo, Farragut for Consistent Effort and Positive Attitude
Brian Battle, Du Sable for Dedication and Most Improvement by a Freshman
David Mccowan, Morgan Park for Self-Less Contribution to the Team, and for Earning Respect for His Team and for Debate
Narrative
The 1999 Chicago Debate Championship was a great thrill, a fittingly exciting to the tournament season, and a special event that honored the students, coaches, and supporters of the CDC. The uniqueness of the event was a function of various features. The location, perhaps most fundamentally, set the tournament apart. Northwestern University hosted it, while our other tournaments were at one of the high schools. On Friday we used classrooms over a fairly large swath of the campus and Northwestern debaters escorted and drove debaters and judges to their more far-flung debates. In fact, much of the Northwestern debate Society, including the Director Scott Deatherage, and the Assistant Director Nate Smith, worked most of the weekend on running our tournament, and they did a wonderful, totally professional job.
Our schedule was different: we began in the morning on Friday (since we didn't have to wait for the high school class day to end in order to have space to debate). Four prelims were held on Friday, and two on Saturday in the Varsity Division, one in the JV. We broke to Octo-Finals in the JV which allowed for teams from six schools to be debating in the elims, from five through the quarters.
Northwestern was hosting concurrently their national college tournament, the Owen L. Coon Debate Forum. This meant that a large number of college debaters and coaches were very nearby, and many of them judged a round or two for us (we used more than a hundred different judges, in fact), much to the educational benefit of our students.
We held a catered reception for the coaches on Friday evening during Round Four, providing a long-overdue chance for the coaches to converse informally, in a comfortable setting. The Awards Assembly featured guest addresses from a number of distinguished persons: Professor Scott Deatherage, Dr. Calvin Morris, Justice Seymour Simon (the Director of the CDC and the person most responsible for effecting the program's political support), and Mr. Lavie Raven (one of Hubbard's two coaches, and person very committed to applying debate to a transformative pedagogy). The Awards themselves were lavish, purchased by the CPS, and including an official Athletic Division City Championship Bronze Plaque for the winners in each division, positioning debate on equal status (in this way) with the city's most established sports programs, basketball, football, track and field, etc.
The debates themselves matched the other aspects of the tournament as a culminating event. By common agreement, they were the best debates we had all year, and many of them received unsolicited praise from our guest critiques. In tile Varsity division, the central rivalry between the two powerhouses, Whitney Young and Morgan Park, carried on, with Morgan Park winning more elim awards but Whitney Young taking the biggest plaque. The college judges who listened to these teams in the elims bestowed upon them very high praise, for their development ill two years: special congratulations should go to Tom, Willie, Anu, and Jon (from Whitney Young), and David, Mercedes, Sharone, Tracy, Dominique, and Rhonda (from Morgan Park).
In JV, Farragut, Hubbard, and Steinmetz moved into the elims to make a bid for top honors. Steinmetz (Brandon and Demetrius) looked poised to make a very serious run for the Championship after winning their octos round. But by the semis only Mather and Whitney Young were left with Morgan Park still competing. When the former two fell, two teams from Morgan Park shared Final Round honor: special congratulations to Crystal, Nneka, Evelyn, and Toya.
In all, an exciting season, structuring an educational program that could only have had a decidedly constructive impact on the minds -- the organizational and critical skills -- and the hopes and ambitions of a few hundred students in public high schools of Chicago.
Top Junior Varsity Speaker at the City Championship Tournament Crystal Holmes, from Morgan Park High School, accepting her award from Professor Scott Deatherage (on the left, Asst. Debate Director at Northwestern, Nate Smith; till the center, Les Lynn)
Fourth-Place Speaker at the City Championship Tournament, Diana Mendoza, from Hubbard High School
Sixth-Place Speaker (and smooth hat-flipper par excellence) at the City Championship
Tournament, Louis Reeves, from Morgan Park High School
Seventh-Place Speaker at the City Championship Tournament, Toya Murray, from
Morgan Park High School
Eighth-Place Speaker at the City Championship Tournament, Christopher Davis,
from Morgan Park High School
Ninth-Place Speaker at the city Championship Tournament, Vida
Ghiasi, from Mather High School
Fifth-Place Varsity Speaker at the City Championship Tournament, Anu Manocha
,
from Whitney Young Magnet High School
The CDC at CRS: Members of the Morgan Park Debate Team Meet Some of the CDC's CRS-Sponsors (from left, Bill Colson, one of Morgan Park's Debate Coaches, Les Lynn, Morgan Park Debater Latonya Starks, Aaron Phillips, Juanita Wilson, David Mccowan, CRS Director Dr. Calvin Morris, CRS Administrator Jim Field)