On January 8th and 9th, over 400 top debaters from around the country gathered at Science Park High School to participate in the 30th annual Newark Invitational debate tournament. The national competition attracts participants from as far away as Louisiana and Kentucky.
The Newark Invitational is one of the largest debate gatherings for high school students in the Northeast. This year’s invitational is a three-day event with the Public Forum and Lincoln Douglas competitions taking place on Thursday and Friday at Science Park High School. The culminating Policy debate was held on January 10th on the campus of Rutgers-Newark.
This year’s Lincoln Douglas debate topic was Resolved: Just governments ought to require that employers pay a living wage. The Public Forum topic chosen was Resolved: United Nations peacekeepers should have the power to engage in offensive operations. This year’s Policy debate topic was Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its non-military exploration and/or development of the Earth’s oceans.
Newark’s debate programs have consistently been recognized as some of the best in the United States. Earlier this fall, Science Park senior, Sunhee Simon, was chosen to represent the United States in international competition as part of the national debate team. Also, in April 2014, Science Park debate coach, Jonathan Alston, was named educator of the year by the National Debate Coaches’ Association.
Debate is an effective way to teach critical thinking and responsible citizenship. Additionally, many leading universities now offer scholarships to competitive debaters just as they do for athletics.
Newark Public Schools is proud to host this year’s Newark Invitational debate tournament.