Speech and Debate News
The Jag Speech and Debate teams are roaring through a jam-packed season, with tournaments nearly every weekend until Spring Break. At the Windward Middle School Parliamentary Debate tournament on February 4, the Jaguars debated the resolutions: "The United States Federal Government Should Legalize Sports Gambling" and "The International Community Ought to Ban Nuclear Weapons." New Roads took second place, and five NRS teams and five NRS speakers placed.
At the February 18-20 Berkeley Speech and Debate Invitational at UC Berkeley, New Roads faced off against students from schools throughout the country. The Jaguars competed in Lincoln Douglas Debate, Congress, Impromptu, and Informative Speaking. Debaters argued the resolution "Justice Requires Open Borders for Human Migration." Congress representatives debated bills on Venezuelan sanctions, gun control, regulations over how algorithms shape political discourse, and the debt ceiling. In the category of Informative Speaking, with a field of nearly 100 competitors, 10th grader Belle Reeves advanced to the semifinals with a speech on the epistemic and existential factors explaining belief in conspiracy theories, and an examination of their consequences for the future of American democracy.
Pictured: Middle School team triumphed at the Windward Parliamentary Debate tournament
New Roads School is a college preparatory K-12 private independent school in Santa Monica, CA, serving over 514 school age children from the greater Los Angeles area. New Roads School provides an inspired educational program from which an authentically diverse student population, mirroring the rich diversity of Los Angeles, develops a personal dedication to learning, a respect for independent thinking, and an expanding curiosity about the world and its people.