March 22, 2010 - JUDL held its fourth middle school debate tournament on Sat., March 20 at First Avenue School. The tournament marked the beginning of the new topic: Resolved that the federal government should provide universal broadband Internet service in the United States. Close to 150 debaters competed in three rounds.

Brent Farrand, in his opening remark to students at the awards ceremony, said that the axis of the debates at the tournament mirrored what was going in the United States Federal Government. The affirmative largely argued that providing universal broadband is the right thing to do, citing equality, moral, and civil rights obligation, while the negative largely argued that the plan would destroy the U.S. economy.

Students shared what they learned about the topic.

"Internet can be kind of useful in the economy, for information and education," said Gloria Aburamu, a 7th grader at Mt.Vernon Elementary.

Nicole Cruz, a 5th grader at Wilson Avenue School said, "I learned that the government wants to supply free Internet by 2020."

Cruz who competed in her fourth tournament is the youngest debater at her school. "I hope next year more 5th graders will start to volunteer and feel confident, because I started."

Eighth grader Jaye Ross debates with his younger brother Javon Ross. He said that it makes preparing for tournaments easier and it's better to have someone he can rely on who is always around.

"I didn't know that the U.S. invented the Internet," he said. "I always thought it was an advanced country like China."

Alejandro Sheppard, a 7th grader at Robert Treat Academy, is a second year debater who joined debate because he wants to practice law when he gets older.

"I didn't know that about the digital divide and that most minorities do not have broadband."

Angelle Whavers, an 8th grader at Mount Vernon said, "I learned about firewalls and hacking, and the cost of the Internet."

Seven beginner teams held undefeated records. Daniel Mendes and Jolarys Torres from Wilson Ave placed first and Abdoulaye Diallo & Saboor Khan from Mount Vernon placed second.

Only two teams held undefeated records in the experienced division. Katherine Bonsu and Daisy Ogbonna from Mount Vernon placed first, following Mahalia Bazile and Alana Rodriquez from 13th Avenue with a close second.

"You need to have a meeting, start working on the next tournament right away, learn from your ballots, find out what arguments worked, and what arguments didn't work," Farrand told the students.

The last middle school tournament will be held on April 10 at University High School.

Top Beginner Teams:

Wilson Ave MT (Daniel Mendes & Jolarys Torres)
Mount Vernon DK (Abdoulaye Diallo & Saboor Khan)
WashingtonDS (Idrias Drayton & Ayana Shells)
Mount Vernon SW (Thamilvili Sivanesan & Mikyyla Williams)
University RB (Latasha Randolph & Amber Brown)
Lafayette Street BV (Evelin Baculima & Angeles Vivanco)
Mount Vernon KU (Sultana Khan & Abshana Uddin)
Mount Vernon PA (Peraveena Perinpenthan & Rukaya Aware)
Mount Vernon BR (Khadija Bhatti & Hifza Rathore)
Mount Vernon JD (Roner Jean & Nene Diallo)

Top Beginner Speakers:

Saboor Khan (Mount Vernon DK)
Jolarys Torres (Wilson Ave MT)
Ayana Shells (WashingtonDS)
Nene Diallo (Mount Vernon JD)
Chaz Wyche (13th Avenue BW)
Abshana Uddin (Mount Vernon KU)
Sultana Khan (Mount Vernon KU)
Daniel Mendes (Wilson Ave MT)
Abdoulaye Diallo (Mount Vernon DK)
Peraveena Perinpenthan (Mount Vernon PA)

Top Experienced Teams:

Mount Vernon BO (Katherine Bonsu & Daisy Ogbonna)
13th Avenue BR (Mahalia Bazile & Alana Rodriquez)
FIRST AVENUE AS (Joshua Azcona & Nyasia Sanchez)
Robert Treat AL (Jailene Agosto & Taylor Leake)
Rafael Hernandez PM (Brian Pirapakaran & Sebastian Maldonado)
13th Avenue RR (Jaye Ross & Javon Ross)
Wilson Ave DV (Adriana DeResende & Kennia Vasquez)
Robert Treat AS (Nick Ayala & Alejandro Sheppard)
Wilson Ave MR (Soraya Mota & Henry Rodrigues)
Rafael Hernandez CC (Luis Cruz & Timothy Carter)

Top Experienced Speakers:

Katherine Bonsu (Mount Vernon BO)
Taylor Leake (Robert Treat AL)
Mahalia Bazile (13th Avenue BR)
Brian Pirapakaran (Rafael Hernandez PM)
Nyasia Sanchez (FIRST AVENUE AS)
Joshua Azcona (FIRST AVENUE AS)
Jaye Ross (13th Avenue RR)
Kennia Vasquez (Wilson Ave DV)
Henry Rodrigues (Wilson Ave MR)
Daisy Ogbonna (Mount Vernon BO)