Under the auspices of the Anguilla Community College, the inter-Primary School Debating Championship, which was originally slated for the period Monday, January 8th to Friday, January 12th, was extended by an extra night, ending on Saturday, January 13th.
The reason for the extension was that, initially, Friday night would have featured two debates, but the organizers deemed it more prudent to give the students a break by assigning one moot to Friday night and the last moot to Saturday night.
The week-long event was held in the auditorium of the Morris Vanterpool Primary School. Each successive night saw a higher level of excitement, and the enthused audiences were moved to share their views on each night’s moot while the judges deliberated together in seclusion.
The Anguillian reported the scores from Monday, January 8th to Wednesday, January 10th in its last week’s issue. Following are the scores and other debate related information from Thursday, January 11th thru Saturday, January 13th.
On Thursday night, January 11th, Vivien Vanterpool Primary School went up against the defending champions, the Orealia Kelly Primary, debating on the moot “Primary School Students in Anguilla should not be Permitted to Carry their Cell Phones to School”. The Proposition was presented by Orealia Kelly Primary, represented by Tiana Smith and Eboni Hodge. They won with a total score of 208 points.
Vivien Vanterpool Primary, the Opposition, was represented by Dynesha White and Jedaya Rogers, who scored 189 points. Tiana Smith of the Orealia Kelly Primary was judged as Best Speaker of the night.
Friday Night’s debate was battled out between the Omolulu International School and the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary. The moot was “Primary School Students in Anguilla who have not Attained Age-appropriate Literacy should not be Promoted”. The Omololu International School, represented by Anna Mialkovska and Treyvaughn Petty presented the Proposition, while the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary, represented by Victoria Buddle and K’Jaughn Gumbs, presented the Opposition.
The Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary amassed a total of 240 points, while the Omolulu International scored 230 points. The Best Speaker for the night was adjudged to be K’Jaughn Gumbs of the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary.
On the final night, Saturday night, the debate saw a match between the defending champions, Orealia Kelly Primary School and the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary School. The moot was “Parents in Anguilla must take the Blame for the Increase in Crime and Violence on the Island.” The Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary School, represented by K’Jaughn Gumbs and Gabriel Leveret presented the Proposition, while the Orealia Kelly Primary, represented by Tiana Smith and Eboni Hodge presented the Opposition.
The winning school for that night was Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary which amassed a total of 205 points, while the Orealia Kelly Primary School scored 196 points. The Best Speaker of that session was Gabriel Leveret of the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary School. His debating partner, K’Jaughn Gumbs, was adjudged Overall Best Speaker for the entire week.
The inter-Primary School Debating Championship had been slated for November last year but was postponed due to unforeseen conditions.
It was quite an insightful and intriguing week of insight and competitive activity at the Morris Vanterpool School auditorium, to say the least. As the judge for the Best Speaker contest, Trevor Hodge, observed: “Night by night there were incremental growth in the quality of the debates. One of the repeated refrains that the judges were ‘singing’ as they marched to the Staffroom for deliberations was ‘Anguilla’s Future Looks Bright; Anguilla’s Future Looks Bright’.”
Dean of Studies at the Anguilla Community College, Ms. Michelle Queeley, sincerely expressed her satisfaction with the week of debates.
“We at the ACC were immensely pleased with the high standard of the debates,” she reflected. “We are also encouraged by the very positive feedback from the schools, parents and the wider community. The ACC once again commends all students and their coaches and looks forward to their continued participation.”
The overall results for the 2023 inter-Primary School Debating Championship were as follows: In 1st Place, the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary School who captured the Championship from last year’s Champion, the Orealia Kelly Primary. In 2nd Place was the Orealia Kelly Primary School; and Omololu International School and the Vivien Vanterpool Primary School tied for 3rd Place.
The prime sponsor for the Anguilla Community College’s inter-Primary School Debating Championship was SOL Petroleum. Other sponsors included: the Department of Education; In Anguilla; Titanium Audio Visual and the Anguilla Community College.
