‘Fake news’ debate taken out by Coomera Anglican College
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Coomera Anglican College students were recently crowned the Gold Coast’s best debaters, taking out the Gold Coast Debating 2019 Grand Final at Bond University
Coomera Anglican College students were recently crowned the Gold Coast’s best debaters, taking out the Gold Coast Debating 2019 Grand Final at Bond University.
During this prestigious event, Coomera Anglican College was also presented with the ‘Most Successful School’ Award based on the finishing positions of all the College’s teams.
Debating Coordinator Megan Beddows, who has been working closely with students to fine tune their debating skills since the start of the year, said that she is very pleased with the results.
“We had fantastic debating success! Not only did we win the Intermediate A Division, we were also awarded Most Successful School – hooray!” Miss Beddows said.
“That’s a massive achievement, as 27 schools competed, so we’re all super chuffed.
“The students were very excited to be crowned champions at this prestigious event, where they debated on the topic ‘Fakes news is a real problem’.”
The winning students argued in the affirmative, putting across a compelling argument that fake news is a significant problem.
The four Year 10 students who took out the 2019 championships, Eli Beckton, Andre Urech, Jada Melham and Shaye Bardsley, worked tirelessly for months in the lead up to the finals, along with their teachers and coaches Megan Beddows and Cathy Hallewell.
Year 10 student and co-champion Shaye Bardsley said that more than six months of old-fashioned hard work and determination helped pave the way for their win.
“The Gold Coast Debating Grand Finals was an event that my team members were looking forward to right from the beginning,” Shaye said.
“With tough competition throughout the entire season, it was a hard-working journey to eventually reach the finals.
“On the night, the nerves were high, yet we were all so excited to start preparation.
“The topic ‘Fake News is a real problem’ was a highly controversial topic, with both teams in the final presenting powerful cases, and it wasn’t until the moment standing in front of the audience, waiting in anticipation to find out the results, that the nerves kicked back in.
“However, hearing our school called out as the winning team was the most amazing feeling.
“After winning all our debates throughout the season, our team was so happy to take home the final debate – it was a perfect season of debating that truly brought out the best in our team.”
Winning team member Jada Melhem said that she and her team found the season both worrying and exhilarating.
“I have really enjoyed debating this season, as the wide range of topics and the tough competition made me a better debater,” Jada said.
“The anticipation of finding out who had won at the Grand Final was extremely nerve-racking.
“We were filled with joy when we heard that we had won.
I have found this season of debating very exciting, scary and a great learning experience for our entire team. I cannot wait for next year!”
Coomera Anglican College believes in the education of the ‘whole’ person, providing a diverse offering of cocurricular activities to develop the spiritual, social, emotional, physical, cultural and intellectual growth of each individual.
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