BEYOND the BOOKS
Adventure in South Africa: Diving Deep into Debate
B
runswick’s debate team has gone global. This past January, Matthew
— the tassel on his presumptive graduation cap. “Brunswick has created a fantastic
Podlesak ’13 literally talked his way to
environment for fostering debate skills,” he
South Africa.
said. “During our many special assemblies,
Matt received the highest individual score
intriguing speakers who catalyze our engagement
tournament at Choate Rosemary Hall, qualifying
with current events and challenge us to develop
him to compete at the World Individual Debate
and defend our own views on preeminent global
and Public Speaking Championship (WIDPSC)
issues.”
South Africa. When Matt went to Choate last winter, the idea of venturing to Durban wasn’t even on his
Matt is naturally inquisitive and confident, an innate leader. He was student body president, cocaptain of the crew team during the 2012–2013 season, and a member of the Cum Laude Society.
radar. Before the New England tournament, Matt
His varied interests kept him well versed in
and his debate partner, Reed McMurchy ’15, and
topics on which he was judged — including social
eight other students attended the debate team’s
and political issues, domestic and current events,
weekly meetings.
and foreign policy topics, most of which call for
Under the guidance of Upper School English teacher Olivia Ciacci and Upper School science teacher Josh Turner, co-faculty advisors, they
debaters to incorporate morality and philosophy into their analyses. prepared-speaking event, Matt returned to the
an “in-house” setting.
States with a collection of international phone
competition so much as an opportunity that held
developed skills in thinking and speaking on their
potential well beyond a medal at the end of the
feet, as well as honing the ability to see both sides
week,” Olivia said.
English-language worldwide high school tournament.
Mr. Constantine was of great importance during our production. He helped us and (well, almost). We used so many props, it was
it didn’t matter that students were from different interest.
During the performance, we sang songs
coached us on how to dance and sing perfectly
From Hong Kong to Australia to Lithuania,
first-ever from Brunswick to attend the annual
and dances.
together.
were preparing to be unprepared.” Students
parts of the world, because they had a shared
lessly for months to learn the songs
The show opened with V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N/
numbers programmed into his phone. “He
students to compete for the U.S., and the
To make the show a hit, everyone worked tire-
Vacation — two different songs blended
approached his time in South Africa not as a
After Choate, Matt was one of a dozen
Vacay, a musical, which was a huge success.
Boardwalk” and “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.”
parliamentary style. “Ironically,” she said, “we
of an issue.
On May 23, 5th graders performed Fives Go on
such as “On the Road Again,” “Under the
Aside from placing in the top 10 in the
practiced their debating skills in what Olivia calls The focus was on an extemporaneous
By Mike Pastore ’20
we’re blessed to listen to thought-provoking and
at the fourth annual New England debate
held this year at the Clifton School in Durban,
Fives Go on Vacay!
hard to keep track. Three cheers for Mr. Briccita for teaching us all how to use our instruments. (I played a trumpet.) We played the songs “BB Does Latin Rock”
“In the midst of intense competition and strenuous preparation, there were
and “Aura Lee.” Our band was made up of a
countless kids who were genuinely
huge range of instruments, from French horns
competitors from Australia,
kind and incredibly engaging,”
to saxophones to drums to Mr. Callahan’s bass
India, Canada, the United Arab
Matt said. “I feel very fortunate
clarinet. The songs were a big success, and we
Emirates, Germany, Pakistan,
to have been able to have had the
played both almost perfectly.
South Africa, Cyprus, Oman,
opportunity to befriend so many
He joined international
Our props used during dancing perfor-
Latvia, Lithuania, South Korea
of them.”
mance were great. There were camouflage hats
and Hong Kong.
Matt received the 2013
and sunglasses and (my favorite) the kazoo. In
For Matt, competing in South Africa was a culmination, representing the convergence of multiple realms of his Brunswick education
our grand finale, we used the kazoos to play
Headmaster’s Award. His next stop:
the tune of the song we were singing, which
Harvard. That both honors are exceptionally well deserved is a topic beyond any debate.
B
was “Strike Up the Band.” All in all, the show was great to be part of and was the most fun performance I’ve ever seen or been in.
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times of Brunswick • summer 2013
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