Morning judges stand with the Preston Albury High School Debate Team, which got the opportunity to present their arguments despite a forfeit by their competitors. (L-R) Jacquelyn Gibson, Tourism Manager; Tiara Jones, PHAHS Debator; Juanita Pinder, Rotary Past President and Business Owner; Hannah Ingraham, PHAHS Debator; Anthonya Miller, PHAHS Debator; Elizabeth Bryan, Managing Editor - The Eleutheran Newspaper.
Morning judges stand with the Preston Albury High School Debate Team, which got the opportunity to present their arguments despite a forfeit by their competitors. (L-R) Jacquelyn Gibson, Tourism Manager; Tiara Jones, PHAHS Debator; Juanita Pinder, Rotary Past President and Business Owner; Hannah Ingraham, PHAHS Debator; Anthonya Miller, PHAHS Debator; Elizabeth Bryan, Managing Editor – The Eleutheran Newspaper.

The Eleuthera District 2016 High School Debate competition completed its semi-final stage on Friday, October 28th at the Resource center with two scheduled debates to determine which two schools would meet in the finals.

Preston H. Albury was scheduled to come up against Samuel Guy Pinder All Age school at 10am, followed by a showdown between the North Eleuthera High School and the Central Eleuthera High School at 1pm that afternoon. The moots for debate were:

  1. “Social Media and Social Networking Sites Have Had a Negative Effect in our Community,” between Preston Albury and Samuel Guy, and
  2. “It is Sometimes Necessary for Government to Restrict Freedom of Speech,” between North Eleuthera High and Central Eleuthera High.

In a surprise turn of events, the day yielded two forfeitures. No clear reasons were given except that the schools had experienced challenges. So both North Eleuthera High School, as well as Samuel Guy Pinder All Age were no shows for the semi-finals. As the morning judges were in place for the first competition, Preston Albury competitors were still given the opportunity to present their arguments, and to receive a critique of their presentations, which could help in their preparations for the upcoming finals.

The Finals are scheduled between Central Eleuthera High School and Preston H. Albury High School at the Resource Center on Tuesday, November 15th, 2016.