Students across the country who participate in urban debate leagues spend an entire year debating the same topic and building and refining their arguments in preparation for the 2024 Urban Debate National Championships. For students Bianca Perkins and Amanti Washington, who attend Kenwood Academy in Chicago, the long hours of hard work and dedication have paid off as they were recently crowned the winners of the debate tournament held last month on the campus of Northwestern University in Illinois.

The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) hosted the three-day tournament, which featured 37 teams from 19 leagues.

Teams debate in a style called policy debate, in which teams of two students debate one current event topic. This year’s topic was whether the United States federal government should substantially increase fiscal redistribution in the United States by adopting a federal jobs guarantee, expanding Social Security, and/or providing a basic income.

The final two teams competing for the championship David Zarefsky Trophy were Chicago’s Kenwood Academy High School and Huntington Park High School in Los Angeles.

In a 4-1 decision, the Kenwood Academy Debate Team was named champions. Washington and Perkins were also named the second and 10th top speakers of the tournament, respectively.

All four finalists received a $5,000 scholarship, courtesy of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, to help with educational expenses.

“This was my last tournament, it's good to end on a high note,” said Perkins in a story that appeared in Newsweek. “But it’s also kind of sad because debate was so much of my life for so long.”

Perkins recalled that she lost her first year of high school to the COVID-19 pandemic and upon her return to in-person learning for her sophomore year sought out community by joining the school’s debate team. She credits debate with helping her grow as a person and teaching her teamwork and how to work with another person in high-stress situations.

“So, I think debate has been really good in helping me build the communication skills and the advocacy skills to be able to speak openly for myself,” said Perkins.

In the fall, she will attend the University of California San Diego and major in psychology.

Washington, who is a junior, has been on the debate team since he was in 7^th grade, and he’s been the captain of the team since last year. He would eventually like to pursue a career in teaching.

The National Association for Urban Debate Leagues works with its 20 partner leagues to provide debate programming to urban middle and high school students. The Chicago Debate League launched in partnership with Chicago Public Schools in 1997. The league has grown from five high schools to more than 85 middle and highs schools and is the largest urban debate league in the country.

Photo credit: Taylor Glascock, courtesy of NAUDL