Trinity College School students had the chance to learn the ropes of the new format in use for the House Debate’s program this year, during the first round of debate on Monday, October 24th.

In preparation for the opening round, a training session was hosted by faculty members Greg MacPherson and Greg Hodges earlier this month. There, students learned about the “world schools” format that will be used this year (as opposed to the British parliamentary style used in the past), a dynamic style of debate with an increased emphasis on “clashes.” As well, the program structure has been condensed to just two preliminary rounds, followed by semi-final and final debates, with the most keen debaters representing each house over the course of the school year.

For Monday’s first round, students at both the Junior (Grade 9-10) and Senior (Grade 11-12) levels debated the resolution that “more learning happens outside the classroom.”

In the Junior ranks, the top individual was Ruby Campbell of Wright House, followed by Serar Omar of Ketchum, Rigby’s Linden Wylie, Liv Healy of Wright and Brent’s Alexey Goussev. The Wright House pairing of Ruby and Liv were the top team, with Serar combining with Nalajoss Elsworth to give Ketchum second spot. Rounding out the leaderboard were Linden and partner Hannah Thompson of Rigby House.

In the Senior division, Brent’s Michael Moreau led the way as top individual debater, followed in order by Cheuk Lam (also of Brent House), Rigby’s Kenna Beatty and Hebe Lu in a tie for third, and Dagna Jezioro of Scott House. Michael and Cheuk gave Brent top team honours, with Kenna and Hebe in second place for Rigby. The Ketchum House duo of Olivia Mills and Nya Fludzinski placed third.

Overall the top houses of the day were Bethune and Wright, each with two wins.

The second preliminary round of House Debates is scheduled for Monday, January 23rd.