Congratulations to the PPA Speech & Debate Team!

Balin Kimbrell and Gideon Fry won the OSDA (Ohio Speech and Debate Association) State Championship for Middle School 2-Person Debate. They went undefeated in the final tournament held this past Saturday at Poland Middle School in Poland, OH.

In addition, the team which also included Andrew Fry and help from Olive Kimbrell during the season, also accomplished the following

Mentor High School Champions, Novice 2-Person Debate (this is the first high school tournament the team has ever won)

Hathaway Brown School Champions, Middle School 2-Person Debate

Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Champions, Middle School 2-Person Debate

Solon High School Champions, Middle School 2-Person Debate

Balin and Gideon went undefeated in the State of Ohio all year

The entire team went undefeated in the State of Ohio all year

Gideon Fry was ranked 7th place speaker at Groves High School in High School (Michigan) Novice 2-Person Debate Tournament.

Gideon Fry was ranked 10th place speaker at Wayne State University (Michigan) Novice 2-Person Debate Tournament.

In addition to the Middle School tournaments, Balin, Gideon, and Andrew competed in six high school level tournaments this year to gain experience and won their share of rounds against much older students.

Balin and Gideon have been accepted to compete at the University of Kentucky - Tournament of Champions tournament this year in May. It is considered by many to be the most competitive and elite debate event in the country and has teams from all over the United States. In addition, Balin and Gideon qualify to represent Ohio at the OSDA National Championships in Texas in June in which there will be debaters from every state. If we attend, they will be competing at the Middle School level in both tournaments.

Its been a great year! We shall see how the national tournaments go and hopefully grow the team next year.