Three debates, nine students, nine adults, and over 350 spectators

On Saturday, the 13th of May, two of our wāhine proudly represented Tauranga Girls’ College at Classic Flyers for the Great Debate in the Bay fundraiser. The night consisted of comedic and unique debates, with experienced students going against adults to fundraise money for road safety education, Spirit of Adventure NZ and Rotary Youth Development programmes for school debating in the Bay. The event was beautifully run, and the level of detail put into creating an excellent atmosphere for everybody was evident throughout the entire night.

Leading to their involvement in this wonderful event, Gayathri Dinesh (Yr 12) was named as a reserve to the Bay of Plenty Regional Debating Team, and Kiarni Sperling (Yr 12) was selected for the Bay of Plenty Development Squad at the BOP Regional Tournament. Both students well and truly proved their worth and knowledge in debating, presenting well-structured, polished and thorough cases for their team’s side of each motion.

Debating against local celebrities, Kiarni Sperling was the first speaker and leaders reply for her team, arguing on the affirmative side of the moot, “This house would ban cars in Tauranga’s CBD”. With plenty of giggles and nods of agreement from the crowd, the Tauranga Girls’ College, Tauranga Boys’ College and Mount Maunganui College student team clearly outclassed the adults, providing a highly researched and substantial argument around why our CBD would benefit from car banning.

As I write this article, I’d like to say that I’m highly grateful for the opportunity I got to be involved in helping this fundraising event. I gained a significant level of experience and confidence in my skills. I had an absolute blast being allowed to nag, intimidate and argue against local celebrities in a formal yet comedic manner.

Gayathri Dinesh was on the affirming side against the local business adult team, arguing as third speaker for the motion, “This house would pay teachers based on the performance of their students”. Being the last debate of the night, the formalities stretched into more of a comedic standoff between both teams, with the Tauranga Boys’ College student within Gayathri’s team going up against his stepfather, who was in the adult team. Each threw quips at the other nonstop, proving great entertainment for everyone attending. Gayathri states, “While it was a bit less formal debating than I expected, it was still a really enjoyable opportunity to entertain some people and judge the debate skills of notable figures in the BOP region.”.

Our 2022 alumni and past Head of Communications Prefect, Ella Mitchell, was also at the event, stating, “It was so wonderful to see all of the talents on display from our Bay of Plenty schools’ debaters. It takes a lot of courage to stand up in front of a big audience and argue against adults, but everyone rose to the challenge! A special congratulations to Kiarni and Gayathri for doing TGC proud. What incredible speakers you are!”