This past weekend, the CHS Debate team competed at the district tournament, a two-day bloodbath also known as the most difficult tournament of the season. The team competed against all of the teams in the Northwest Indiana district, including Penn HS, Munster HS, Crown Point HS, and Valparaiso HS. Chesterton qualified three people, taking two of just six nationals spots: Kolvin Dade (12) and the team of Milena Letic (12) and Alaina McGrogan (12).
Letic and McGrogan qualified in Policy Debate, where students spend all year studying the same topic and proposing ways to deal with it. This year, the topic was Intellectual Property, or IP. Letic and McGrogan have been debate partners for all four years of their high school careers.
“The tournament went really well,” said Letic. “We were nervous because it was our first one back.”
Because both members of the team were busy with sports and other academic competitions, the team’s first tournament of the season was this one.
“We put in the work last minute, so we qualified,” explained Letic.
They were incredibly successful, taking one of only two spots that a dozen teams were vying for. Letic and McGrogan were partially coached by Kalina Smith, and were assisted by teammate Patrick Hansen.
Dade scooped a qualifying spot in Lincoln-Douglas debate, where competitors use philosophy and logic to debate a topic. This event has its roots in the famous Senate candidate debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in 1868. Topics change periodically throughout the season.
Last weekend, Dade constructed cases on whether or not the US should become party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). After competing in prelims on both Friday and Saturday, Dade placed first overall. He is coached by Program Director Joshua Coots.
Patrick Hansen (12) narrowly missed a qualifying spot in Lincoln-Douglas, coming in as the first alternate. If a national qualifier were to drop out or move to another event, Hansen would have first dibs on the spot.
Overall, Chesterton took a third of the national qualifying spots, solidifying this year’s senior class as successful. The NSDA National tournament will take place this June, in the NSDA’s headquarter city of Des Moines, Iowa.