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On February 25, 2022, the annual CHS debates are set to return to a full auditorium.

And for the first time in the history of the debates, prospective juniors will be debating. They will argue in the afternoon, coached by the current CHS debate students.

“We needed at least one more arguer this year because of the way the numbers worked out in order to have even teams,” said CHS debate teacher Mr. Kerry Naylor. “So I put it out there to Mrs. Bartlett’s junior honors English class and I was surprised by how many were interested. So instead of just choosing one students, we opened up the debates to include non-class participants. I think it’s going to be awesome, and I hope it’s a pathway to get more people involved in the class when they are seniors.”

CHS classes are college course classes that allow students to earn college credit while still in high school. Bellwood’s debate program is offered through the University of Pittsburgh. Each year, Pitt teachers along with teachers in the program come up with a theme for the yearly debates. It’s up to the school to create topics that fall under the theme’s umbrella.

In most years Pitt selects a top arguer from each school to go to Pitt for a state-wide debate. Due to COVID-19 the school hasn’t picked a top student since the 2019 CHS debates. Alanna Vaglica was the last female to represent B-A in the statewide CHS debates. There are plans to bring back the statewide forum next spring.

These debates are school wide and open for teachers to bring their classes to view. The theme for this year is “Science is leading America in the right direction.”

Topics to be argued are:

~Steroid usage in sports

~The over-medication of young people

~The risks & benefits of AI

Junior arguers will be arguing whether recreational marijuana should be legal and whether transgender athletes should be forced to compete as their biological sex.