National Spanish Debate

Thursday, 25th May 2023 at 10:30am

“¿Hablas español?” - “Do you speak Spanish?”

El concurso de debates organizado por STANZA es una oportunidad para que los alumnos avanzados de español (años 11, 12 y 13) demuestren su competencia en la lengua en un contexto académico competitivo - The debate contest organized by STANZA is an opportunity for advanced students of Spanish (years 11, 12 and 13) to demonstrate their competence in the language in a competitive academic context.

Green Bay High School entered two teams into the National Spanish Debate, held at Rangitoto College earlier this week.

Congratulations to:

• Ben Wyness, Anjelique Jessup-Smyser, Evie Stokes (3rd place)
• David Kearse, Anika Tsukihara, Ella Smith (4th place)

Totally immersed in español (Spanish) the debate allows students to expand their Spanish vocabulary and comprehension. During the competition each team had three rounds of debates.

Spanish teacher, Anna Kempkers, says the teams were given a moot beforehand, with 40 minutes to write their debates, before putting their knowledge into action by debating against teams from other schools in front of a panel of judges.

"It is super impressive as they really are proper, formal debates where the students not only have to think critically, but also write and speak accurately and effectively in Spanish."

"I am so proud of them", she added.