This year, CHS Speech and Debate hoped to send two teams to the International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) debate tournament. Due to the success of last year’s team, which was composed of seniors Nancy Jung, Clayton Becker, and Diana Chao, coach David Chamberlain made the previously stated decision. Qualifying for this tournament takes hard work, commitment, a lot of sleepless nights, and technical skills that most people do not have. The previous team was mentoring the two teams, helping them build arguments and find evidence for this year’s resolution, which states: Genetically modified organisms are essential to global food security.

“Our team constructed excellent cases founded on expert research. I’m very proud of last year’s performance by Nancy Jung, Clayton Becker, and Diana Chao. We won some money which helped us go to Nationals in Dallas,” Chamberlain said.

The IPPF is an international tournament sponsored by the Nickel & Brewer Foundation and New York University. The essays made by teams are no more than 2,800 words, either affirming or negating the topic resolution. The IPPF Essay Review Committee then evaluates each essay, and the top 64 teams earn cash awards and advance into a single-elimination, written debate competition.

“The IPPF competition is really tough. Not only does it involve [a lot] of work writing the case, but it also requires you to be very succinct and discerning in order to fit within the word limit,” Becker said.

With more teams, Chamberlain hoped to increase their chances of advancing in the tournament. On Oct. 21, after 168 hours of work, the teams sent their essays for this year’s topic to be scrutinized by the panel of judges. The results of whether or not they qualified were released on Nov. 10; unfortunately, despite their best efforts, neither team was chosen.

“I think that the IPPF case that we wrote was the most eloquent case that I have ever written. Usually, it’s just me saying fact after fact through verbal presentation, but this was a written presentation, making it a lot more challenging to persuade the judges adequately with a limited word count. We put a lot of effort into the case, and I think it really shows considering that we reached a higher level in a very tough field of competitors,” Jung said.

The teams hope to advance further in next year’s competition and they will continue to strive for their goals. Mr. Chamberlain is looking forward to working with the debate students to bring their success to the level of Jung, Chao, and Becker.