Notre Dame 8th-grader Tess Censoni, left, won the inaugural middle division "Big Question Debate." Classmate Marisa Ricci, right, was the runner-up.
She's also the moderator for NDPMA's debate team, which is probably why she decided to get the entire 8th grade to participate in a Big Questions Debate tournament, a rather unique debate format supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, a national organization working in association with the National Speech and Debate Association.
"We had students preparing cases on both sides of the 2017-2018 national Big Questions Debate topic," Schmidt said, "which is 'Resolved: humans are fundamentally different from all other animals.'"
The debate was broken into multi-minute chunks — constructive statements, rebuttals, consolidations and rationales — with a pair of three-minute sessions midway through in which the opponents politely peppered one another with questions.
Schmidt said that after five in-class days of debate, the top speakers advanced to the quarterfinals Monday, semifinals Tuesday, and the finals today.
"Semifinalists Grace Byrne and Jonathan Hubbard put up a good fight, as did runner up Marisa Ricci," she said. "But the 8th grade champion was Tess Censoni. We're very proud of her!"
Schmidt also had high praise for the National Speech and Debate Association.
"We thank the NSDA for their grant and encouragement to show students how to effectively and logically convince others with evidence about anything that they may believe."
More on "Big Questions" Debates: Big Questions is a debate format supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. High school and middle school students will grapple with complex worldview questions as they debate both sides of the 2017-2018 topic: Resolved: Humans are fundamentally different from other animals. Programs that do Big Questions debates are eligible to receive thousands of dollars per event. These debates can be held at a tournament, with your team, or in your classroom. The NSDA awarded more than $350,000 to schools in Year One and has more than $500,000 to infuse into schools in Year Two.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org