HARKER SPEECH AND DEBATE
championship, where it took both first and second place in public forum. The addition of Karina Momary to the faculty later that year bolstered the middle school debate program. Momary quickly sought to expand the middle school program by adding more events. Having come from a larger debate program in her previous job, Momary wanted to enhance the middle school program by offering more than public forum, which focuses on current events. “Not everyone likes talking about current events. Some people want to talk about moral values and some people want to talk about policy issues,” she said.
“Being on the team is an amazing experience; the support I have received from the parents, coaches and peers has really helped me work hard toward improving.” – Cindy Wang, grade 8
Since then, the middle school program has won at the national level in every debate event it has entered. “A lot of parents ask me which style of debate are we better at, and we are just as good at all of them,” Momary said. “Part of the reason is we encourage students to find their passion and to research something that interests them, and with that comes the passion to excel.” When she joined Harker, there was a scarcity of local middle school debate competitions, which made preparation for national tournaments a challenge. Momary took the bold step to start entering her students into high school-level tournaments, which drew criticism from some in the debate community. “And then our kids started beating the high school kids,” Momary said. “And now all the middle school programs out here do the same thing.”
Photo by Carol Green
Green attributes much of Harker debate’s success to the resources available to students. “Honestly, I think the Harker community’s a large part,” she said. In a recent example, upper school debate teacher Greg Achten’s students were to debate on environmental issues, which prompted Achten to invite science teacher Kate Schafer to speak with his students on the topic. “Being able to draw from the rest of the Harker resources and the Harker community really allows our students to take it outside of the text,” Green said.
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Photo by Jenny Alme
Green added that students also learn how to argue from both sides of the debate, “forcing students to question their own beliefs, to understand and build stronger foundations in their beliefs, because they know what the opposition’s going to say and they know how build a response to that.” Middle school students also get help from upper school debaters, who offer support and guidance at after-school practice sessions and workshops. Momary noted that middle school team captains are in near-constant contact with upper school captains to coordinate and prepare arguments. When middle and upper school students travel to tournaments together, they are set up as buddies. “Everyone supports each other and really works as a team,” she said.
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