Students Making a Point
Debate teams eye tourney

The cutting remarks Mercedes Tavarez was giving and getting over pizza and soda were as aggressive and jokey as the typical lunchroom face-off.

But the subject at hand was serious — federal education reform. And the fight, though spirited, was practice for a statewide debating tournament.

The afternoon practice for members of 16 school debate teams that are members of the New York Urban Debate League took place in the midtown Manhattan offices of the Open Society, which funds the league.

Tavarez's team from Progress High School in Williamsburg, along with 15 others in the league, will head to Albany on Friday for the New York State Forensics League Championship.

If the last year's competition is any indication, league teams — from schools with varying levels of academic achievement — likely will sweep more established teams from suburban and private schools.

"When we were there last year, we dominated so much that a lot of people thought it must be a mistake," said Winston Benjamin, a senior at Grace Dodge High School in Belmont, the Bronx.

The league's teams took first, third, fourth and fifth places at last year's state championships.

Before the New York Urban Debate League was formed, only two city schools had debate teams that dealt with policy — Bronx Science and Stuyvesant.

Currently, 34 schools are in the league, including 12 from Brooklyn.

Many of the teens in the New York Urban Debate League teams say their involvement in debate has made a significant mark on their lives.

"I was always argumentative and I always questioned my teachers," said Benjamin, 18. "I was always getting in trouble, but I had no outlet for my intelligence and curiosity until I joined debate."

Benjamin, last year's state champion, will attend Wheaton College in Illinois in the fall on a full-tuition scholarship.

David Vanette, a junior at the School for Legal Studies in Williamsburg, said he had seen a second-year freshman with a failing grade point average move to a 3.7 average within a year because of his dedication to debate.

He added that debate is one of the only club activities offered at his school.

"There's also the Spanish Dance Club, but everyone there is also in debate," said the 17-year-old, who has been on the team for two years.

The topics under discussion are heavy going, even for policy makers.

This year's topic is whether the federal government should establish educational policies to significantly increase academic achievement in secondary schools.

"With policy debate, it's about knowing the evidence," said Alexandra Glankoff, who coaches the team at the Institute for Collaborative Education in Manhattan. "Each team has to be well-read in a variety of materials."

The time commitment for debate is serious. Teams in the New York Urban Debate League typically gather for three-hour sessions once or twice a week at their schools.

When preparing for tournaments, they work three to four hours daily, not including research time.

"I have to go to my aunt's house to do research because I don't have a computer, or to our coach's house," said Asa Scott, a senior at Erasmus Hall School for Humanities.

"You can see our achievement by showing up at a tournament at 7 a.m. on a Saturday," said Will Baker, executive director of Impact Coalition, a community group focused on policy debate that sponsors the league. "It's full of kids."

"That means that some kid in the Bronx got up and took the train to Brooklyn, lugging boxes of evidence, just for the fun of it," Baker said.

Although they are fierce with each other in competition, the students from the various teams display a strong sense of camaraderie.

Right after Scott told Baker she had just been named valedictorian at her school, he announced it to the room, which greeted the news with a round of applause.

--Original Publication Date: Tuesday, 04/04/2000 in the NY Daily News, Metro Section Page 1
Also in the Brooklyn Daily News, Your Neighborhood Section Page 1