Harding Middle School Vs. Menlo Park Academy Debate
Max Evans was in charge of rebuttal for Harding's side in the great cell phone debate.
On May 23, 2012, Harding Middle School and Menlo Park Academy met at Harding Middle School to debate about the use of cell phones in school. It was a Lincoln-Douglas debate. This style is more relaxed and the orators try to make the speech more calm and civil. In the end, Harding won the debate but Menlo Park didn’t go down without a fight.
The orators from MPA were very strong; though a couple of times they couldn’t answer each question. The questions they did answer they answered professionally and thoroughly. They also paced around while they were talking to add emphasis, but the whole time they were looking and speaking directly to the judges. Throughout the debate our side was nervous at the points they were bringing up.
MPA may have made us nervous but with Veronica Lee doing the constructive, Max Evans doing the rebuttal, and Isaac Karel doing the cross-examination we knew that we had a great shot at winning. Isaac came out strong asking great questions. In fact, Isaac won The Best Cross-Examiner Award. Veronica Lee had a great constructive that was interrupted by Sarah Krost’s cell phone to prove that cell phones in schools are distractions. Finally, Max had a great rebuttal. At the beginning of the debate Mr. Spooner said that he really wanted the Sportsmanship Award, and Max Evans was quoted saying, “Too bad, because I’m on your team.” The ironic thing was that Max Evans won the Sportsmanship Award. After the debate we all laughed about it. Even Mr. Spooner said it was a surprise that it was not awarded to a team instead of an individual.
Andrew Duna, a student involved in the debate, said, “I believe that Max deserved the award for all the effort he put in.”
Max Evans says, “I thought it was a really good chance to interact with other kids from a different school…I was really honored about winning the Sportsmanship Award because I didn’t expect it.”
Saige Rook, a member of Harding’s debate, said, “It was really fun and a good experience to interact and meet new kids.” Everyone asked about the debate said it was really fun and they would like to do it again. Jason Morgenstern, when asked if he would like to be involved in the debate, said, “Yeah, it sounded like it was a lot of fun.”
Mathew Elaban said, “It was a great learning opportunity. I’d like to do it again.”
With all the excitement during the debate, it was nice to go outside and play a good game of kickball. Even though Menlo Park didn’t win the debate, they still had a great time. We all had a great time. The debate was a great start to an amazing day.