The 8th graders recently had a wonderful weekend at one of the largest debate tournaments in the state hosted by the University of Texas at Austin. Kinkaid had 10 debaters from the 8th grade represented in the junior-varsity division of Lincoln-Douglas Debate at the Longhorn Classic. They were the youngest students in this division, which includes participants with up to two years experience in high school debate. This division included about 75 students from Texas and Oklahoma.
All of the Kinkaid middle school debate team students finished with a win-loss record of 2-2, 3-1, or 4-0. That is a great accomplishment at this age at such a difficult event! All of the Kinkaid debate team students with a 3-1 or 4-0 record advanced to the double octofinals (top 32). When the doubles participants were announced, Kinkaid had the most representation of any of the 30 schools entered with 6 of the team’s students advancing
Once the tournament reached octofinals (top 16), the Kinkaid team had one quarter of the pool! Kinkaid finished with two of the four semifinalists. This is really remarkable for the only middle school students entered in the tournament.
Here are the students who advanced:
Semifinalists (top 4): David Liang and Anna Thomas
Quarterfinalists (top 8): Sam Segal
Octofinalists (top 16): Collin Lawrence
Doubles (top 32): Jiya Ghei and Anish Odhav
Congratulations to these students on all their hard work this semester and for representing Kinkaid with professionalism and good sportsmanship!
Middle School Debate teacher, Stacy Thomas