Plano East High School students win debate competition

by PegNews wire

Students at Plano East Senior High School have been named winners of the “Best Case Award for the Southwest Region” in an international debate competition. The students now advance to the single-elimination rounds of the 2008-2009 Bickel & Brewer/NYU National Public Policy Forum (NPPF), where they are eligible to win the $10,000 first-place prize and an all-expenses-paid trip to the finals competition in New York City.

“Plano East distinguished itself in these early rounds of competition,” says William A. Brewer III, partner at Bickel & Brewer and founder of the NPPF. “These students are now moving to the next stage of this contest – in a dynamic academic forum that is unlike any other taking place in debate today.”

The NPPF is the only international contest that gives high school students the opportunity to participate in written and oral debates on issues of public policy. More than 100 schools – representing 14 foreign countries and 32 states – submitted qualifying round essays on the topic, “Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase alternative energy incentives in the United States.” The NPPF annually involves more than 700 students. Plano East participants include Rahul Sangal, Tarang Kapoor, Shilpa Sethuraman, and Maya Sachdeva.

Plano East was chosen as among the top 32 qualifying round essays, and named the overall best for the five-state Southwest Region. The school now advances to an individual written debate contest against Deer Park High School from Deer Park, Texas. A panel of judges will review a series of papers in the order they are presented and vote for the winning school. The winner will advance to the “Sweet 16” round of the competition. This format continues for several rounds until there are four teams remaining.

The top four schools will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the April 17-19, 2009, NPPF Finals at New York University. After completing written and oral arguments, finalists are honored during a special banquet and awards ceremony. The Bickel & Brewer Foundation awards the winning team a $10,000 grand prize and the “Bickel & Brewer Cup.”

The NPPF was founded by the Bickel & Brewer Foundation in 2001, and is now jointly administered with New York University. The program is available to all high schools – public and private – for free. Since its inception, the NPPF has awarded more than $600,000 in support of forensic activities at the secondary school and collegiate levels. The NPPF is endorsed by leading forensic agencies such as the National Forensic League, National Association of Urban Debate Leagues, and the International Debate Education Association.

The Bickel & Brewer Foundation is a private, non-profit organization funded by companies, individuals and the national litigation firm of Bickel & Brewer. With offices in Dallas and New York, the Foundation has achieved widespread recognition for its efforts to create, fund and manage a variety of educational outreach programs. Visit the NPPF at www.nppf.net.

Source: Carter PR