As the school year begins to wind down, some great young minds from our local state schools have been hard at work. Those in the 'affirmative' took on those in the 'negative' in the annual Noosa District Inter-school Debating competition held last week.
Students representing Cooroy, Cooran, Tewantin and Noosaville State Schools participated in a competition where round robin debates occurred on various subjects such as the best things in life are free.
Held annually since 2012, the tournament has proven to be a real hit, with students from Years 4-6 finding a fun way to inspire debating with a little competitiveness between the schools. The skills and passion were on display during the finals held at Noosaville State School last Monday. For the record, Noosaville's Year 4, Cooroy's Year 5 and Noosaville's Year 6 teams were crowned champions for 2018.
Tournament co-ordinator and Noosaville State School teacher, Sue Silburn said the Noosa District Debating Cup was a great success and is now a sought-after title between the four schools and feels it will grow from strength to strength each year it's held.
"The kids have really embraced the annual Debaters' Cup and we thank Bendigo Bank for their ongoing financial support of this event. Because of it, we're able to purchase medallions and present the trophies for the junior and senior team winners. Each student who takes part also receives a certificate of participation. The standard of competition was high again in 2018 and we all had a lot of fun," Ms. Silburn said.
"The students and have worked really hard under the guidance of their coaches and adjudicators. We sincerely thank Rick Cass (Tewantin State School), Kathy Facer (Cooran State School) and Hillary Dwyer (Cooroy State School) for their assistance over the past few weeks.
"Debating is a great skill for the kids to have as they get older and we certainly have a few budding experts on our hands. At the end of the day the tournaments' success is measured by the enjoyment of the students taking part," she added.
Cooroy and Pomona Community Bank branches', Simone Flavelle said the bank is delighted about its continued involvement in sponsoring tournaments that develop students' learning and sportsmanship.
''We're really proud to sponsor this competition and this is just an extension of the great relationship between our Community Bank branches in Cooroy, Tewantin and Pomona and all the schools represented. We look forward to offering our support for the Noosa District Debating Cup in 2019," Simone said.
