The 2023-2024 debate season has been very successful for the Glen Rock Varsity Debate team. Intense snow canceled a debate Glen Rock High School was set to host on January 16th, 2024. Unfortunately for the debate team, this debate will not be rescheduled allowing the team to prepare for the final three debates on Feb 7, Feb. 28, and Mar. 7.
This year’s debate prompt was set to be: The United States federal government should substantially increase fiscal redistribution in the United States by adopting a federal jobs guarantee, expanding Social Security, and/or providing a basic income.
“I was definitely upset when the debate got canceled. I like hosting debates because it’s a different feeling when it is at your own school,” Senior Captain Olivia Berard shared.
The team had been preparing for months leaving mainly the captains upset. The team’s senior captains; Armaan Dhanju, Ben Raser, Leah Holzer, Danny Erani, Mia Bernstein and Olivia Berard will host their last few debates in the final months of their highschool career.
“I was really bummed, to be honest. There is so much time and effort that goes into organizing a varsity debate. I took a month to prepare for the debate while my captains certainly helped out, a lot of it had to be done on my end,” Ms. Hathaway shared.
The night before, four schools officially were unable to make it due to their schools’ delayed openings: Ramapo-Indian Hills, Ramsey, Paramus, and Frisch. At this point, Ms. Hathaway, the team advisor, canceled the event.
Northern Highlands communicated right after that they also had received a delayed opening. While schools weren’t closed, the change in timing of class periods meant Glen Rock became unable to host the debate. Additionally, buses were all scheduled for different times, so schools would not have had transportation to get to Glen Rock. The other schools planning on attending were Pascack Hills and Pascack Valley.
“I was heartbroken when I found out [that] the debate got canceled because that meant I had to study for my physics test that day instead of skipping school for the debate. I was devastated to miss hanging out with my friends from debate and seeing some brutal Frisch showdowns,” Reyva Poage, a Judge from Ramsey High School shared.
