Dighton Middle School Debate Team

Posted Wednesday, April 10, 2019 12:00 am

Advisor: Susan Warren
Students:
Maddie Beerman, Neely Deschenes, Kate DiSanto, Maddy Easterday, Julia Foley, Merideth Foley, Rachel Medeiros, Ella Nicolau, Maia Patricio, Haley Peixoto, Audrey Pratt, Abigail Sunderland, Abigail Medeiros.

The Dighton Middle School Debate Team competed in its second Massasoit League debate this season at the Hurley Middle School in Seekonk, MA, on Friday, March 29, 2019. The team once again finished the day taking all honors. The team was paired up in six teams of two and competed against six other schools in the league. Every single Dighton Middle School team prevailed in the first two rounds.

After the second round, three Dighton Middle School teams moved forward to the semi- final round. Those students were, Abigail Sunderland, Julia Foley, Audrey Pratt, Meredith Foley, Ella Nicolau and Maddy Easterday.
Audrey Pratt and Meredith Foley advanced to the final round, competing against their own teammates, Ella Nicolau and Maddy Easterday.

Each team member had to prepare to argue both sides of the four resolutions to be debated.

The resolutions were:
Resolved- Metal detectors are a necessity in our schools to keep our students and staff safe.

Resolved- Voting should be mandatory for all eligible US citizens.

Resolved- Professional athletes are overpaid in relationship to their contributions to society.

Resolved- Standardized testing in public K-12 schools has done more harm than good.

Audrey Pratt and Meredith Foley secured the first place individual team championship, beating Ella Nicolau and Maddy Easterday by a very slim margin in the final round.

The entire Dighton Middle School Debate team won the team award for scoring the most points of all the teams present, bringing the first place trophy home to Dighton Middle School!

The team members’ thorough preparedness, and amazing ability to clearly debate and articulate their thinking, was truly phenomenal. The entire Dighton Middle School Debate team should be commended for its outstanding performance.