Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands (Friday, March 10, 2023) - Maranatha Academy won the championship title in the third annual FortisTCI National High School Science Debate held at the company's headquarters and Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex on March 2 and 8, 2023, respectively. It was a razor-thin win against Holy Family Academy, who placed second with a one-point difference across the judge's score sheet.
The finale debate explored the moot: "Without national or global enforcement, achieving greenhouse gas emission targets is unrealistic."
In addition to securing the highest score in the finals, the three-member debate team, Junior Maitre, Havianique Reid, and Jonathan Daniel of Maranatha Academy, also won debates against A Louise Garland Thomas High School and Raymond Gardiner High School in the preliminaries and semi-finals.
Second place winner, Holy Family Academy, represented by Nahysha Hinson, Mateo Piwowarczyk, and Aeron Drae Almendrala, won debates against Elite High School and Clement Howell High School. The third highest scorer was Clement Howell High School, whose team members, Antwan Butler, Dashawn Brooks, and Rebecca Henry, also delivered a strong and stand-out performance.
Seven schools competed in this year's event, which featured 60-minute debates across two days with different moots and argument stances. The preliminaries were held on Day 1, followed by the semi-finals and finals on Day 2. The format allowed students to showcase their ability to form well-constructed arguments, stand firm under intense questioning, and intelligently interrogate their opposition.
President and CEO of FortisTCI, Ruth Forbes, stated: "The FortisTCI National High School Science Debate continues to grow, and students experience the power of advancing well-researched, reasoned and rational arguments supported by compelling evidence on a range of important global topics. This year's debate reflected an extra layer of vigor with remarkable performances among highly competitive teams."
She continued: "We congratulate this year's champions, Maranatha Academy, for their passion and persistence towards securing the championship, and the second-place winner, Holy Family Academy, for a great debate. It was an absolute pleasure to witness these students in action and all debate teams who worked extremely hard."
Maranatha Academy and Holy Family Academy debate team students receives a 10.9" 10th Generation Apple iPad, trophy, medal and a participant bag. Each student on the winning debate team receives a $500 educational grant, and the school receives $1,000 for its science program. Second place winner, Holy Family Academy, receives $500 for its science program, and each student on the debate team receives a $300 educational grant. The science debate was one of four championships now under the FortisTCI National Science and Technology Fair.
