January 27th-28th, 2024 Tournament: Writopia Lab, Debate Spaces and Debate to Educate


 

Writopia Lab, Debate Spaces and Debate to Educate came together on the weekend of January 27th-28th to host an international debate tournament! Our tournament practiced an altered version of World School Styles, tailored to suit the needs of junior high and high school students. All debates were in English. We offered both novice and open WSS. Teams were not required to be from the same school. Each team consisted of 3-5 debaters. 

 

The motions for our tournament were as follows: 

This House regrets permissive parenting styles. 

–This House would support a media literacy class in public schools. 

–This House regrets the rise of the social media “influencer.” 

–This House believes that schools should ban violent sports for students in grades K-12. 

–This House supports free and open immigration between all countries.

–This House believes that countries should be allowed to colonize the Moon.

–This House believes that universities should offer all students a free year-long study abroad program.

–This House supports reparations for all indigenous peoples displaced by colonization.

–This House would ban zoos.

–This House would allow citizens of any age to vote in elections.

 

Writopia Lab’s mission is to foster joy, literacy, and critical thinking in children and teens from all backgrounds through creative writing. This mission is rooted in our belief that celebrating and sharing stories contributes to the building of stronger, more literate and empathetic young people and societies. Debaters at Writopia Lab work with a set team over the course of the workshop and explore a variety of topics and stances through the use of sparring and gameplay. In addition to providing your writer with crucial debate skills, this workshop strengthens our kids’ and teens’ critical thinking abilities, creativity, confidence and teamwork. Debate Spaces is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that aims to connect communities and empower students through debate. Debate Spaces brings together middle and high school students for extracurricular programming that offers students world-class public speaking and debate training while helping students apply the skills they’re learning to make change in their communities. 

Mars or Bust Tournament! Sept 30th-Oct 1st, 2023!

The Mars Society is the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. Established in 1998, the group works to educate the public, the media and the government on the benefits of exploring Mars and creating new branches of human civilization on the Red Planet.

From September 30th/October 1st 20203, he Mars Society and Debate to Educate  paired up for a one time only spectacular event! Teams from all over the world  debated some of the most crucial scientific questions of our time, competing for a chance to perform virtually in a final round at the Mars Society Convention in front of an audience of some of the greatest minds in the field of space exploration!  We offered $1000 in cash prizes (minimum), to be distributed amongst the top 2 teams in each division.

We matched competitors in ANY time zone, so that all debaters could compete at a reasonable time between Saturday, September 30th and Sunday, October 1st  .

 

Our tournament practiced World School Styles. All debates were in English. Each team consisted of 3-5 debaters and competed in 3 rounds, with the possibility to compete in a final. 

 

 Our motions for the tournament were as follows:

1. This House Believes there is life on Mars

2. This House Believes Mars would best be explored through robots (as opposed to humans).

3. This house believes the settlement of Mars should be led by private companies, and not by governments.

4. This house believes the first human mission to Mars should be a no-return mission.

5. This house believes humans should attempt to terraform Mars.

 

View videos from our Mars or Bust tournament here.

Premiere Tournament! march 11-12, 2023

 

Our tournament was made available to debaters across the globe between the ages of 10-15. We offered both novice and open leagues. Each team had one month to study our motion lists.

In total, over 100 debaters from across the globe joined us for the big day! Debaters from the following countries were in the running for our World Championship Titles:

  • The United States
  • England
  • Rwanda
  • South Africa
  • India
  • Vietnam
  • South Korea
  • Hong Kong
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Kazakhstan
  • Russia

 

Although each team only competed for a total of three rounds, the entire preliminary tournament spanned a grand total of 17.5 hours!  While the president (me, Rachel Zubrin) stayed up through the whole tournament, each team was able to debate at a comfortable time after 8am and before 9:30 pm. Fundamental questions were posed and answered, including:

  • Is free market capitalism superior to socialism?
  • Does national pride do more harm than good?
  • Is the development and use of Artificial Intelligence a threat to humanity?
  • Do all people deserve to be loved?

Only two teams from the novice league and two teams from the open league were selected to compete in the final round the following day. Many teams were vying for the title, with teams from the United States, Hong Kong, Rwanda, India and Singapore blazing into round 6 with solid and intimidating winning streaks. 

Ultimately, two teams from Singapore rose above the others in the novice league to take their shot at the championship- Roga Red and ZH Intrepid. Both Roga and ZH Interpred faced off as top contenders the last time they competed head to head in the past, though Roga ultimately took the crown in 2022. But…could they keep it?

Meanwhile, in the open league, two familiar rivals faced off once more- Writopia (United States) and Lead School International (Rwanda). When Writopia Lab held their tournament in November 2021, teams from Aspire Debate Rwanda had swept the house, leaving not a mere medal in sight for Writopia nor any other team. Writopia came in with a vengeance, however, having spent a year and half viciously building their debating skills and sweeping tournaments of their own. But….would it be enough to change history?

The final brought a brand new challenge to our top contenders; They were forced to debate a surprise philosophical motion, with only 10 minutes of prep time! The novices were stunned to learn their topic, “This house believes it is better to be respected than to be liked”. The open leaguers were equally caught off guard with their motion, “This house believes justice is better than mercy.”

In the novice league, the teams faced off with fierce accuracy, delving deep into the fundamental questions of what brings true happiness and fulfillment. Both teams brought creativity, originality and empathy to their cases. Ultimately, ZH Intrepid proved it is better to be liked than respected by illustrating the long term psychological and sociological need for group support and inclusion. We at Debate to Educate certainly both like and respect them even more for it!

The Open league final was equally intense. It was clear that each team was intimidated at the prospect of debating a motion with only 10 minutes to prepare. Still, Lead International came in strong right out of the gate. As the first speaker announced, “This is an idea I have debated many times before,” the Writopian’s faces sank with terror. Lead International began reflecting on the greater aspirations of humanity and mercy at a level that any college professor would envy. Writopia, however, refused to be bested again. Carefully, they jotted down their opponents’ arguments line by line, looking for the tiniest cracks to bring to light. Never missing a beat nor dropping a contention, Writopia fought back. Meanwhile, they asked the audience one of the core fundamental questions of life- what is humanity without justice? Justice, and Writopia, prevailed in the end. For the first time ever, Writopia took the World Championship title!

The only question is….will Lead International show them mercy next time around? Or will they take the title away from them once more?

Join us next time to find out!