Every year the Sir Winston Churchill Society engages with local students through Student Competitions. This year was unique because the Society was able to host a debate competition along with a speech competition in conjunction with the University of Alberta Debate Society. The U of A Debate Society is the primary club in the University of Alberta campus that puts on high school tournaments to provide students with the opportunity to develop their debate skills. 

This year nearly 60 students participated in the Sir Winston Churchill Speech and Debate Tournament from 9 different schools in the Edmonton area. The preliminary competition was hosted on Saturday, November 30th, 2019 at the University of Alberta. 

The participating schools were Tempo School, Strathcona High School, Salisbury Composite, Old Scona Academic, McNally, Archbishop MacDonald, Michaelle Jean, Edmonton Islamic Academy, and Edmonton Christian High School. The topic that the debate competitors engaged in was “This House Regrets the portrayal of death in combat as an act of heroism.” It was remarkable seeing students argue for both sides of this topic especially when using Churchill and his policies as examples. Out of the 25 teams that competed, the top two moved onto the final rounds.

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The speech tournament happened concurrently on the same day in the same place. There were two participating schools - Tempo School and Old Scona Academic. The topic for the speakers was “Sir Winston Churchill is often considered one of the founding fathers of the European Union when he called for a “United States of Europe”. Yet some argue that despite Churchill wanting a united Europe, he did not envision Britain to be a member of it. Given today’s political climate in the United Kingdom, explain your views of Britain’s position in Europe and the greater global world.” Students were asked to take a stance and explain their view on Brexit and we were able to witness incredible student orators defend their perspective. Out of the 9 speakers that competed, the top three moved onto the finals. 

The Sir Winston Churchill Speech and Debate Finals took place on December 11th at the Historic McKay Avenue School. Here, the Churchill Society members judged the speakers and the U of A Debate Society Representatives judged the debate. The proposition team for the debate was represented by Imaara Keshwani and Max Williams from Old Scona Academic while the opposition team was represented by Alice Yang and Emily Wang from Old Scona Academic. After conferral judging, the winning team was the proposition and the second-place team was the opposition. The three speakers were Gurjot Hothi, Nimra Hooda, and Josh Karathra all from Old Scona Academic. The speakers were also judged by conferral judging and first place went to Josh Karathra, second went to Gurjot Hothi, and third went to Nimra Hooda. All first-place winners were awarded scholarships of $300 each, second-place winners were awarded $200 each, and the third-place winner won $100.