Middle School Debaters Compete at New England Middle School Open in Lebanon
February 02, 2026
What a day! Six schools and almost 40 students competed at the January 31st tournament in Lebanon, delightfully dubbed the New England Middle School Open. This tournament was designed to increase enthusiasm for debate among our younger students across Vermont and New Hampshire.
Seventh graders Coral Riegler, Emelyn Leitao, Zachary Martin, and Noah Brown competed in four rounds, debating the pros and cons of federal regulation of sports betting. I got to sit in on a few of their rounds and I heard our students confidently deliver speeches and respond to their opponent’s arguments, signaling good listening skills and critical thinking.
Another thing I noticed was that the partners really relied on each other during each round. They routinely leaned toward one another to confer and share information and questions. It was great to see good collaboration to achieve a goal– winning their round!
Coral and Emelyn placed 5th out of 20 two-person teams of debaters! And they both were top speakers– Emelyn was 8th and Coral 10th out of almost 40 participants!
The most heart-warming part of the day? All four of our students happily chatted away the whole car-ride back to TA about pits and peaks from the day, holding mock debates, and coming up with team names. The tournament’s goal was to create enthusiasm– mission accomplished.