By Sabine Sleiman and Zaina Al Qadi (12-D)
The annual debate is one of the most anticipated events of the year and an academic activity that gives students creative room to express what they feel. The length and breadth of knowledge that they gain through the debate is simply unparalleled. T. I. S. has set the benchmark for conducting activities in such a way that the students not only enjoy but also learn a great deal from it.
This year’s debate consisted of a feisty battle of words, with the topic chosen being ‘Social Media: Boon or a Bane’. The event was organized by the English Department, and was by far one of the best debates our school has ever conducted. Teams A and B were well prepared and used various skills such as overstatement, rhetorical questions, and irony to convince the audience with their standpoint, with Team A being WITH the usage of social media and Team B being AGAINST. The participants also made their arguments more emphatic with the right facial expressions, body movements, and gestures.
All the teams exhibited great oratorical skills. They put in tremendous hard work to showcase their hidden talents, also displaying confidence whilst presenting their arguments before the audience and a panel of eminent jury members consisting of Senior School teachers and coordinators.
After the heated but interesting debate ended, and after lots of reasoning, Team B was enthusiastically declared the winner both in the Senior and the Middle School (Girls).
In the Senior School Girls, although Team B took home the title of the winning team, Team A’s participants did not leave the stage empty handed. Ghaydaa Al Selami (G11) strikingly earned the title of Best Speaker, and Best Rebuttal was bagged by Lamar Gebara (G11). Whereas, in the Middle School Girls, the judges declared Team B as the winner and the title of the Best Speaker was bagged by Lara Qawas of Grade 8I and the Best Rebuttal was earned by Layan Bader Al Thubaiti of Grade (9H). Nevertheless, the Middle School Boys Section participated with equal zeal and enthusiasm. Team A was unanimously declared as the winning team. Yahia Khaled Eltantawi of Grade (8C) acquired the title of the Best Speaker and Muhammed Abu Taha of Grade (8A) picked up title of the Best Rebuttal.
In addition to that, all participants were given a certificate of participation. The day concluded on a joyous note and our Annual Debate was, as usual, nothing less than extraordinary.
Source Link: December Newsletter (2018-2019)