Cross Examination Debate Teams Sweep Top Awards at District to Advance to State
While gaining real-world experience in a competitive environment, Tomball ISD students competing in Cross Examination made an impressive statement at the recent UIL District Cross Examination Tournament.
Representing both Tomball Memorial High School and Tomball High School, these four students, competing in teams of two were faced with the challenge of debating the topic, Resolved: 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 basic income.
TMHS and THS students swept through the competition, capturing first and second place to advance to the UIL State Tournament in March in Austin. The tournament featured 10 teams where they beat out teams from Waller ISD and all Klein ISD high schools.
Representing the winning teams were:
- 1st place | TMHS, Ethan McKeever and Aaron Tharp
- 2nd place | THS, Mario Canales III and Aayan Pattanayak
These two teams from Tomball ISD will compete as the only two cross examination teams representing UIL District 15 6A at the State Tournament.
Cross examination is a two-on-two debate event where the affirmative team proposes a plan to enact, while the negative team offers reasons to reject the affirmative proposal. In order to successfully capture top honors, these students spent countless hours researching, analyzing, and preparing cases as well as practicing the delivery of the team’s case. Throughout the year, these students practice and perfect their craft, debating teams from local area schools at tournaments throughout the school year.
The teams represent each high school. and are led by Speech and Debate teachers Dustin Kay from TMHS and Kami’ Faldyn from THS.
Source: Tomball ISD
