This is the first time a school has managed to take two teams to the top of the rankings, out of a total of 40 teams.
Last weekend, eight students from 4th year of ESO (Secondary) and 1st year of Bachillerato traveled to the Mirabal School in Madrid to participate in the second phase of the CICAE National Debate Tournament. The great news was that in the initial round, which included 40 schools from all over Spain, the teams from Lope de Vega School took the top two positions. The team called Pablo Picasso, made up of José Vicente, Rafael, Octavian, and Pedro, won first place, while the team called Irene Adler, with Laura, Hugo, Karine, and Carla, came in second.
They traveled to this event with their coaches, Miguel Salguero and Óscar Cortina, with whom they had been preparing for the tournament for the past two months. The tournament's central question was: "Is immigration positive for the European Union's economy?" Both teams won comfortably in all their matches, thus qualifying as the top two teams for the final phase, which will be held on March 22nd at Camilo José Cela University in Madrid.
In the elimination rounds, the Irene Adler team reached the semifinals, leading many judges to consider it the best debate of the entire tournament. After lengthy deliberation, the judges ultimately chose their opponent, Carpe Diem, who also delivered a fantastic performance.
After extensive research, documentation, and reflection, the students were able to debate at a level far beyond their years, with several judges standing out for demonstrating a level that "could easily win a university tournament against final-year students." Furthermore, many of them were chosen as the best speakers after their debates, as was the case with Laura, Pedro, Tavi, Josevi, Rafa, and Carla (who won twice). All eight have made history, as this is the first time a single school has managed to have both of its teams qualify as the best in a qualifying round. Congratulations!
Read the chronicle written by Professor Óscar Cortina entitled "Harvesting the Fruits of the Word"
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