This past weekend Columba College was lucky enough to have six teams compete at the Otago Regionals for Debating, and had a very successful time, with both Columba 1 and Columba 2 making it into the semi-finals.

Over the course of the weekend all teams did at least 6 debates, with four on the first day for everyone. Motions ranged greatly in topics, with some being about referendums and voting, and others about cats preference of owners. Every team had only half an hour to construct an entire case that they would need to present in three 7 minute speeches. For the junior teams this was the first time they ever spoke for speeches longer than 6 minutes, and they all did incredibly well!

Columba had some incredible results with Anise, Zoe, Alyssa, Emily, Isabella, Tessa and Jessica gaining a place in either Senior or Junior Development Squad. Clara was also selected onto the Regional Team, with Sophie as a reserve. Emily was awarded Most Promising, and Anise and Zoe were both awarded Highly Commended recognitions. Overall, we are very proud of our Columba debaters as they have continued to demonstrate Columba’s history of excellence and strength in debating.