The Midway High School Cross-Examination (CX) Policy Debate team of David Park & Neon Zheng earned bronze medals at the virtual 6A State UIL CX Debate tournament in March. The state semifinalists’ performance qualified them to compete at Nationals in June, hosted by the National Speech and Debate Association.
David also received the 6A Bronze Gavel Speaker Award at State in recognition of being one of the top three speakers, and he earned Top Speaker at District.
The Midway CX Debate team of Josie Sim and Lauren Myers qualified as the alternate CX Debate team for State this year. Josie Sim also placed 6th at the State UIL Lincoln-Douglas Debate Competition, which was held virtually at the end of May.
Additionally, Corbitt Armstrong and David Park became the first students in Midway’s history to qualify for the State UIL competition in Congressional Debate since it became an official UIL event in 2014. The pair advanced from Regionals to compete at the virtual State tournament in February.
About CX Debate
In CX Debate, debaters work in pairs to address the school year’s topic, either to propose a plan to solve a problem with the topic from the affirmative side, or to prove how the affirmative’s plan is flawed from the negative side. According to UIL, the purpose of the contest is to train students to analyze a problem, conduct thorough and relevant research, and utilize principles of argumentation and advocacy in orally presenting the most effective case for or against a given proposition.
About Congressional Debate
UIL explains Congressional Debate as an individual contest in a large group setting that models the legislative process of our U.S. Congress. Within this mock legislative assembly competition, contestants research and write pieces of Congressional legislation they feel will better our society. At tournaments, Students gather in committees and use proper parliamentary procedure to speak on the merits and disadvantages of each piece of legislation, and then vote to pass or defeat them.
