Orange High School wins Mayor's Cup Debating Competition | Photos

Team members Ethan Delaney, Angela Weckert, Cheyenne Sciascia and Abigail Kittler convinced adjudicators Tony Boland and Margaret Brown at the annual Mayor’s Cup Debating Competition at the council chambers.

The students went up against the Orange Christian School debate team in the final and took the affirmative position with the question “a local council should consult with the community before making major decisions”.

Both teams had less than an hour to prepare their speeches and key points ahead of the final.

Orange High debater Abigail Kittler was also presented with the Kerri Parkes’ Memorial Trophy for the most outstanding debating student by Mrs Parkes’ husband David Parkes and mother Daphne Barden. 

The trophy, was was dedicated to former Bletchington Public School teacher Kerri Parkes, who died in a car crash in 2016.

Mr Parkes said his wife used to be involved in helping “little tykes” learn how to debate and she was also involved in organising competitions and adjudicating with Margaret Brown.

“It just makes me proud that Kerri is still involved,” Mr Parkes said. 

Before heading to the final, the Orange High year 9 students beat Orange Anglican Grammar in a prepared round where they took the negative position.

They argued against, “Orange’s sense of community will get smaller, as the size of population grows bigger”.

“It’s always easier when you agree [with your position].” team member Angela Weckert said.

Ahead of the debate, the winning team members prepared at school and at home.

“We did a brain storm meet up almost every lunch to talk about what we’d done,” Angela said. 

In the other prepared round, Orange Christian School took on Kinross Wolaroi School to debate whether “12 councillors are too many for a local council to be effective”. 

The competition has been running for 15 years and mayor Reg Kidd said it’s a chance for the city’s teenagers to showcase their critical thinking skills and gain confidence with public speaking.

“Each year Orange schools send the best of the best from their senior debating crop and each year the competition is fierce,” he said.