Moriah’s Middle School Debate Team has emerged victorious for the second time this year. In this most recent competition, Moriah’s talented and dedicated team of middle school debaters competed against HANC, HALB, Har Torah and He’atid. After a series of rigorous rounds, Moriah clinched first place! Earlier this year, Moriah also took first place in the first tournament of the season against BPY, Noam and Yavneh. They have now won two out of the three tournaments held across 13 Jewish Schools across New Jersey, Manhattan and Long Island.
Moriah also took the top spot for individual debater score and 2nd place for team debater score. As a team, Dylan Nadritch and Murray Yunger took 2nd place for team debater score out of 16 teams. Murray Yunger came in first place for the individual category. The eight Moriah students who participated in this debate were: Bea Dauber, Dylan Nadritch, Murray Yunger, Ethan Ehrenfeld, Mia Klein, Sophia Schwalbe, Naomi Denenberg and Aela Bleier. All demonstrated exceptional skills in research, critical thinking and public speaking.
Moriah’s debate team consists of 20 incredible students from sixth to eighth grade who dedicate their time each week to meeting as a group. They practice skills required for debating such as researching a topic, developing an argument and public speaking. Topics are relevant to the current state of the environment and the students take great care in handling the sensitivity of very mature subject matters. In the most recent competition, they prepared affirmative and negative arguments for a very charged topic: Should the government hold social media companies responsible for protecting users from harmful and inaccurate content?
Moriah’s Debate Coaches include Keren Ehrenfeld (Moriah Parent), Kate Lifschitz (Moriah Alum ‘22) and Eliana Elkin. Win or lose, Keren and her team of coaches are proud of what their students have achieved: “The academic prowess of our students has been excellent, but more importantly their results highlight the importance of fostering skills such as communication, problem-solving and teamwork. This achievement is a testament to the dedication and spirit of the school community.”
