ONG at the International Berlin Debating Competition for the First Time

Stu­dents from Otto-Nagel-Gym­na­si­um had the exci­ting oppor­tu­ni­ty to take part in the Inter­na­tio­nal Ber­lin Deba­ting Com­pe­ti­ti­on for the very first time. It was an unfor­gettable expe­ri­ence — not only becau­se it was our debut, but also becau­se the level of com­pe­ti­ti­on was incre­di­bly high. Many of the par­ti­ci­pa­ting schools have been part of the deba­ting sce­ne for years, with a lot of expe­ri­ence and rou­ti­ne, which made it all the more impres­si­ve to see how con­fi­dent­ly our stu­dents performed.

Our Juni­or and Seni­or teams deba­ted chal­len­ging topics, ran­ging from cur­rent poli­ti­cal dis­cus­sions to spon­ta­neous impromp­tu deba­tes. The atmo­sphe­re throug­hout the event was fan­ta­stic — respectful, fair and fil­led with pas­si­on for con­s­truc­ti­ve dia­lo­gue. It was gre­at to see stu­dents shaking hands after hea­ted deba­tes and show­ing genui­ne app­re­cia­ti­on for each other’s arguments.

Ever­yo­ne was thril­led to be part of such a high-level com­pe­ti­ti­on, and we are proud to say that both our Juni­or and Seni­or teams mana­ged to win one of their three deba­tes. An extra round of applau­se goes to Hele­na T., Luca G., Timur W., Char­lot­te B. and Eve­lyn S., who were each award­ed Best Spea­k­er in their deba­te — a fan­ta­stic achie­ve­ment, espe­ci­al­ly for a first-time appearance.

Well done to ever­yo­ne invol­ved — we can’t wait for the next round!