CDL season rockets to a great start

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The CDL high school season kicked off in October and November with highly competitive tournaments across four conferences and a record number of CDL students representing every part of Chicago. The topic this year? National space policy. Specifically, the debaters debate the resolution determined by the National Forensic League and debated by all high schools and middle schools in the U.S.: “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its exploration and/or development of space beyond the Earth’s mesosphere.”

Debaters from 55 high schools conquered their nerves for a great start to the year. As teacher Bob Wysocki from VOISE Academy explains, “We’ve had many new debaters overcome with fear before their first tournament… But that fear and nervousness is replaced by excitement and confidence after a round or two. At that point, the students truly become debaters and good teammates, working to improve each other and the team as a whole. That nervousness has now transformed into anticipation of their next tournament.”

Tournament One had 464 students compete, a 7% increase over fall 2010. At Morgan Park’s combined LCC/RCC tournament, Whitney Young took home top honors in Varsity over King College Prep and guest school Evanston Township defeated Lane Tech in JV. At Douglass, where all Conference “AA” schools gathered together, Daniel Hale Williams Prep took home bragging rights in Varsity for the first month of the season, as did VOISE Academy in JV. At the Conference “A” JV competition held at Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, guest school Champaign Central finished ahead of Michele Clark for top honors in JV.

Locke Lord LLP hosted the Conference “A” Varsity Season Opener. See the article in this issue of the Chronicle for more information.

Tournament Two had 500 students compete, a 12% increase over a year ago. At the RCC tournament hosted by Phillips Academy, Whitney Young took the top two places in Varsity and Lane Tech won the JV championship. At Hyde Park Academy’s LCC Tournament Two, King defeated Phoenix Military Academy for the Varsity prize and guest school Evanston Township finished first ahead of Taft in JV. At Harlan, the top Conference “A” Varsity school was UC Woodlawn (repeating its T1 success) and Westinghouse defeated Marshall to top the JV.
CVCA hosted Conference “AA,” where Daniel Hale Williams made it two Varsity tournament wins in a row by defeating Amundsen, who took solace in winning the JV division over Julian.