The Minnesota Debate Teachers Association holds a state championship for Novice (1st year) and JV debaters, giving them both an end-of-season event. St. Francis won 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in the Novice A division at State this past weekend.
Champions were Sydney Borchert '26 and Janice Tiah '27
Runners up were Sarina Dubay '26 and Cailynn Inderlee '27
Reserve Runners-up were Henry Baker '28 and Ava Refsland '28
Sydney, Janice, Henry and Ava were also recognized as being outstanding speakers in their division.
We are so happy for their success. Debate is a lot of struggle and hard work. Practice began in mid-August and the team practices 3x a week - as Angus and Malcolm Young wrote, "It's a long way to the top if you want to rock-and-roll."
They debated the national debate resolution: 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 a basic income.
The value of Debate as a learning activity should be recognized as well - researchers found that students who participated in a year of debate gained extra learning "equivalent to 68 percent of a full year of average [ninth] grade learning."