On Wednesday, January 29, Yavneh Academy’s Debate Team attended their second official debate at Barkai Yeshivah, in Brooklyn, and competed against Barkai Yeshivah, Yeshivat Noam and Westchester Day School. The Yavneh students who participated in the debate were eighth graders Jonah Danzer, Sophia Esses, Ari Lewis, Avi Sebrow and seventh graders Keira Cohen, Daniel Lechter, Elad Shushan and Mussia Poltorak, as well as seventh grader Julie Saadatmand who attended as an observer for her future debate. The topic of the debate was, “Standardized Testing Should Not be a Major Component of the College Admissions Process.” It was a challenging argument in which to debate both on the affirmative side as well as the negative position. Fortunately, Yavneh Academy returned as winners in two categories. Sophia Esses and Avi Sebrow won first place as Best Team and Avi Sebrow won as Best Speaker. Yavneh Academy is extremely proud of its team and is looking forward to cheering them on in the next debate.