Owen won several medals and team trophies at last weekend’s World Scholar’s Cup. He had his highest score in the debate. Fortunately, he was with two experienced teammates and his team of three won the junior division.
The World Scholar’s Cup is fantastic for young people as it puts academic achievement on the same level as sports. The founders of WSC find interesting topics for the kids to learn more about. They are also “hip” and between the music and schtick (stuffed alpacas, jokes) kids are super engaged in the challenge rounds which are like knowledge bowls. There is also an essay contest. My favorite is the debate competition. The resolutions for the senior category this year were “Japan should land a manned mission on Mars” and “it should be legal to bring back people from the dead”. These kinds of questions force students to form logical and evidence-based arguments and develop their public speaking and presentation skills. These types of skills are really needed here in Asia especially. Owen will not be going to the Global Round in Hanoi this year, although he qualified, but depending on his work ethic, we hope to send him to next year’s round. You can watch his debate on YouTube. He is so far ahead of me if I compare him to my grade 8 self…
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