2008-10-27
Bodine Excels at first PCFL Tournament
Gwynedd Valley, PA — This season's first Philadelphia Catholic Forensics League tournament was held this past weekend on Saturday, October 25, 2008, at Gwynedd Mercy Academy High School. Four debaters from Bodine High School participated in the competition to gain experience, and collectively won four awards.
The students debated the Lincoln-Douglas debate topic, "It is morally permissible to kill one innocent person in order to save the lives of more innocent people." After three rounds of preliminary competition, three Bodine students tied for second place, and were each awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the league.
The three students — Jalon Alexander, Steven McFarland & Melanie Young — each participated in this summer's Philadelphia Debate Institute, and regularly work with Perspectives' volunteers. Bolstered by the strong performance of PDI alumna Mariah Spriggs, Bodine was awarded the second place "Debate Sweepstakes" award, given to the school with the second-best overall debate performance.
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Perspectives is a Philadelphia-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization promoting youth debate education. Students who debate dramatically increase their reading comprehension, critical thinking, and public speaking skills. In the process, debate becomes a forum to foster youth achievement and civic responsibility. Perspectives has worked with over 400 students in 8 states through afterschool, summer, and special events. www.philadebate.org