Young Debaters Take On 3rd Virtual English Debate Tournament

During the 3^rd virtual English Debate Tournament, organized by alum Lazaros Moyssiades, who teaches at the Intercultural Lykeion of Evosmos, four members of the Young Debaters club and two members of the English Debate club competed against 7 other teams from local schools. The Anatolia teams were the following:

• ASQUARED - Anna Zahariadou 3A/B & Aris Tsinganos 2D/B
• Team L0G!C - Nicholas Papageorgiou 3C/A & Stelios Angelides 3A/B
• The Whistle Blowers - Erifyli Vakali 3A/B & Anna Filindri 2D/B

Preparing for the tournament meant long hours of research on European Union matters, as the tournament focused on EU-relevant motions since May 9^th as Europe Day. The students' enthusiastic response and huge effort were inspiring during the many online meetings, which, of course, had to be scheduled after the end of their morning classes.

The actual tournament lasted from 8:45 am to 6:30 pm on Saturday and was a great experience for all participants, albeit an exhausting one. Ms. Maria Spyraki, Member of the European Parliament, was a guest of honor, and students had a chance to ask her questions. Overall, it was an amazing, pioneering experience for debaters and coaches alike.

Congratulations to team Asquared and Team LOG!C, which made it to the semi-finals! Congratulations to Aris Tsinganos, who was voted Best Speaker, Nicholas Papageorgiou, who ranked 4^th, Stelios Angelides, who ranked 7^th, and Anna Filindri and Erifyli Vakali, who tied in 8^th place.

We are also grateful to advisors Erato Kostopoulou and Andrew Harrison, as well as alum Magda Petmeza, who helped with the preparation and volunteered to judge at the tournament.