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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, M ay 24 ,2 01 8 | 42424 The White Oaks Sec- ondary School junior de- bate team of Heather Li and Grace Zhu won the national junior debate championship in Calgary earlier this month. The team of Kathryn Pozios and Amy Zhang al- so made the semifinals, and Kathryn Pozios was top speaker. Heather and Grace de- feated a team from Hali-feated a team from Hali-f fax in the final round onfax in the final round onf the prepared bill: This house supports minimum First Nations re- presentation in all pro- vincial and federal elect- ed assemblies. This prepared bill was debated twice in the first two rounds of the compe- tition, each team having to debate both the govern- ment and the opposition sides, in those first two rounds. What is particularly exciting for White Oaks is that its second team there - Kathryn and Amy - were in the semifinals too. This means that in the semifi- nals, where all but four teams have been eliminat- ed, two of the surviving four were from Whitefour were from Whitef Oaks. There were 52 teams in total - schools from Brit- ish Columbia to Nova Sco- tia. "Most of the schools are private, and, as a public high school teacher, I was so pleased to see a public high school doing so well in the intense competi- tion," said the school's de- bate club leader, English teacher Hamish Guthrie. The prepared topics were debated on Friday, and then there was a trip to Banff and a ride in a gondola to a snowy peak where the teams had the chance to enjoy a sun- drenched walk on a new wooden boardwalk. On Saturday, there were four rounds of im- promptu debate, on vari- ous topics. Teams were given only 20 minutes to prepare before the im- promptu rounds. The im- promptu topics were: This house would ban politicians from using so- cial media. This house believes that the presentation of women in superhero mov- COMMUNITY White Oaks junior debate team wins nationals Kathryn Pozios top speaker at same event JULIE SLACK jslack@metroland.com Grace Zhu (left) and Heather Li - the winning team in the Canadian National Junior Debate Championship May 6, 2018, Calgary at Calgary French and International School. White Oaks Secondary School l See JUDGES, page 43 YOUR WEDDING WITH A GIFT THAT LASTS FOREVER REGISTER YOUR WEDDING AT PENWOODFURNITURE.COM OAKVILLE - 905.844.5333 - MORRISTON - 905.837.3555 - ANCASTER - 905.648.6888 Celebrate HAN D - C R A F T ED FURN I T UR E