Talented high school trio's future up for debate

WORD WARRIORS: Wanganui High School's Gabrielle Penn (left), Rhaz Solomon and Jackie Hazelhurst represented the region in debating team finals last week.PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY 290515WCBRCWHS0

Three Wanganui High School students represented the central North Island at the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools' Debating Champs which concluded in Wellington last week.

Rhaz Solomon, Gabrielle Penn, and Jackie Hazelhurst made the semifinals after seven rounds of debating, before losing narrowly in a 3-2 decision to the eventual winners of the competition, Wellington.

"We were told the motion and given an hour to prepare our case before each debate and some of them were really tough - like a division of Iraq into three states," Rhaz said.

Despite the team missing out on the top gong, Rhaz was selected as a member of the Russell McVeagh New Zealand Schools' Debating Team, which will represent New Zealand at the World Schools' Debating Champs in Singapore in July and Gabrielle was selected as a reserve for the team, and also won the cup for the most promising speaker.

"Rhaz and Gabrielle represented their region with distinction," said Josh Baxter, president of the New Zealand Schools' Debating Council, the organiser of the tournament.

"Rhaz is a very passionate and articulate debater who did a good job leading his team and Gabrielle is a very analytical debater and has a very bright future," Mr Baxter said.

The Wanganui High students were selected for the Central North Island team after winning the regional championships in March this year.

Teams from Wellington, Auckland, Canterbury, Otago-Southland, Hawke's Bay, Northland, Central North Island, Waikato and Kahurangi-Marlborough took part in seven preliminary rounds at the weekend, confronting such issues as whether criminal trials should be televised, whether alternative medicine should be banned, and whether President Obama deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize.