Guest post by Corey Berman
As the 8th graders were busily preparing for their Holocaust Play presentation, eight 7th graders went to Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy for a debate: Shira Levie, Matthew Wexler, Lisa Appelbaum, Yakir Zwebner, Sarah Hiller, Corey Berman, Ben Elias, and Esti Ness. The resolution: the federal government should impose an extra tax on food that lacks nutritional value and/or exceeds the suggested daily calorie intake.
The debaters were joined by other students from a variety of middle schools from New Jersey and Queens, New York. Each student was paired up with a partner and debated either the affirmative or negative side in two separate rounds. The day went very well, and as always, the Yavneh students demonstrated not only astonishing competitive ability, but also excellent Midot.
After Mincha in the afternoon, scores were tallied and results given. The 7th graders received numerous awards for their speeches and overall performances. Tied for 2nd place for team performance, were Shira Levie with Matthew Wexler, and Corey Berman with Sarah Hiller. In 3rd place for team performance was Lisa Appelbaum with Yakir Zwebner. Lisa Appelbaum tied for 1st place individual speaker, Matthew Wexler tied for 2nd place individual speaker, and Corey Berman and Sarah Hiller tied for 3rd place speaker. And the total: Yavneh Academy came in 2nd place overall for the debate meet, only 2 points behind the esteemed North Shore.
The 7th graders, filling in for the 8th graders, really were a powerful team and did an excellent job! Kol hakavod! In addition, thank you to Mrs. Caspe for coaching the debaters and to Mrs. Pachón for accompanying them on the debate and judging some of the debates as well.
