Great Debate Team Wins Championship
Alamo Heights High School
A combined 76 high school freshmen from 22 San Antonio and surrounding area high schools competed at the National Hispanic Institute’s (NHI) Texas Great Debate on June 13-16 at Austin College in Sherman and July 25-29 at the NHI’s Texas Ambassador Great Debate hosted at the University of Texas at Austin.
The teams were composed of 35 members for the 2013 Ambassador Great Debate and 41 for the Sherman Great Debate team, with over 25 high school volunteer staff; in total, over 100 high school youth participated.
The Ambassador Great Debate Team placed first out of seven other regions from around the state of Texas. Team members competed in five categories ranging from oratory, extemporaneous speaking, cross examination, mock trial and the athenaeum challenge. The debate is structured as a round robin tournament in which the team members with the highest average advance to the finals through single elimination rounds.
In addition to placing first overall, the 2013 team also boasts first place in the state in mock trial (at both the Sherman and Ambassador Great Debates), second place in the state in oratory and the athenaeum challenge as well as the all-state award for oratory, which goes to the individual with the highest average in their particular category. Twenty-eight team members from the Ambassador Team and five from the Sherman Team received bids to the National Hispanic Institute’s International Showcase, Celebración, scheduled for October 31-November 3, in San Antonio. NHI’s Celebración four-day leadership experience anticipates over 1,000 bright young college-bound Latinos/as representing 17 cities and five Latin American countries.
The members of both the 2013 San Antonio Great Debate teams will be recognized by the City of San Antonio in September as well as by their respective high schools to highlight the great accomplishments they have brought to our city.
For over 32 years, the work of the National Hispanic Institute has made leadership training its chief means of engaging high school Latino youth with strong potential.
For over 23 years, the San Antonio Community Leadership Council (SACLC), the San Antonio affiliate volunteer group of the National Hispanic Institute, has promoted leadership by examining the character, ethics, beliefs and morals of high-achieving Latino youth, working to engage youth in the global Latino community, reaching beyond the borders of the United States and into México, Argentina, Panama and Puerto Rico, to name a few.
Alamo Heights High School participants included:
- Sol Zona, Alamo Heights High School Ambassador;
- Ricky Tamez, Alamo Heights High School Sherman;
- Genesis Rivera, Alamo Heights High School Ambassador;
- Julian Perales, Alamo Heights High School Ambassador;
- Melanie McDaniel, Alamo Heights High School Ambassador;
- Ryan Castro, Alamo Heights High School Ambassador;
- Taylor Torres, Alamo Heights High School Ambassador;
- Lilliana Sosa, Alamo Heights High School Sherman.
Participating San Antonio-area high schools in this experience are listed below:
- Alamo Heights
- Brackenridge
- Brandeis
- Brooks Academy of Science & Engineering
- Central Catholic
- Clark
- Johnson
- Highlands
- Holy Cross
- Incarnate Word
- Judson
- Lee STEM Academy
- McCollum
- Providence
- Saint Mary’s Hall
- South San Antonio
- St. Anthony’s
- Jefferson
- Travis
- Warren
- Young Women’s Leadership Academy
- Health Careers
For more information, visit: www.saclc-nhi.org or www.nhi-net.org
