Interested in joining the team, or simply looking for more information about debate at Robbinsdale Cooper? Here's everything you need:

Debate Flyers & Handouts

Debate Packet for 2008-09 School Year - Our debate packet outlines many of the common questions about debate and lists NFL membership information and end-of-year awards for the previous years.  (Updated May 10th, 2008)

Debate Camp 08-09 - Each summer Robbinsdale Cooper holds a three day debate for first and second year students to improve their debate skills and experience.  The last two days of the camp, we are joined by the Varsity Team and start preparing on topic analysis for the October LD topic. (Updated May 14th, 2008)

Bad news, Emilia didn't clear.  Everyone is ready to go for Thursday.  One day off tomorrow to enjoy the town.

DJ

So the day didn't work out like we wanted to.  After six rounds of public forum debate, Erik and Chyenne did not clear to elimination rounds for later today.  They will continue to debate on Thursday in Improtu Debate.

Emilia had a good day.  She ended up base + 1 at the end.  The top 8 students move onto the Semi-Final senate which occurs tomorrow.  We have to head off to the Schwan's party to find out about Emilia.

DJ

So we have completed one day of the tournament.  So here are the highlights from today.  We don't know anything for sure as we don't get official results until the end of the week.

Erik and Chyenne have completed 4 of their first 6 guarenteed rounds.  Erik thinks they are about 2-6 (two judges in each round) and Chyenne thinks its 6-2.  So we will see tomorrow.  We need to pick up 8 of the 12 ballots to continue to the double elimintation rounds starting on Tuesday afternoon.

Emilia is +1 above base.  Base is the total average number of speeches which is an average of 2 speeches.  You want to be both above base and have a high number of quality speeches.  We won't know if Emilia moves onto elimination rounds until after Tuesday night.

We are also at 272 tickets in the arcade.  Lastly, make sure to check out the new National Tournament Photo Gallery.

DJ

So we got into Las Vegas and discovered a few things.  First its really hot.  Second its kinda scary north of Las Vegas.  Third, the new hulk movie is really really really bad!  Words cannot express how bad it is.

So many may ask what we ate for the first day.  Well, it wasn't the most nutritious meals.  We started with lunch at Raisin Canes and tonight ate a little Sonic for dinner.  I promise better food in the future.

Also, we will start our daily running total of arcade tickets we have won - 108 tickets in one day.  Not a good investment for sure.

DJ

Interested in joining debate?  Come to an informational meeting at Robbinsdale Cooper High School, May 21st at 6:00 PM.

You should consider joining the team because you are an exceptional student and debate will help you get the very most out of your high school experience. No other activity will impact you like debate. Consider these facts:

• Very few high schools in America have a debate team, yet more than 25% of Harvard’s class of 2009 identified debate as their primary extracurricular activity in high school.
• A Wall Street Journal report specifically highlighted a “consistent trend” in college admission. State and national debate award winners have a 22% to 30% higher acceptance rate at top tier colleges and being captain of the debate team “improved an applicant’s chances by more than 60% compared with the rest of the pool.” No other sport or activity had this kind of statistical impact.  Recent Cooper debaters have been accepted at Carlson School of Management, Yale and Northwestern.
• Debate teaches you how to learn – a skill that is essential in today’s world. As President Bill Brody of Johns Hopkins put it, being really good at "learning how to learn," is an enormous asset in an era of rapid change and innovation, when new jobs will be phased in and old ones phased out faster than ever.
• Joining the debate team puts you in the company of many leaders and entertainers. Along with Presidents Nixon, Johnson, and Clinton, half of all United States Senators were debaters. Oprah Winfrey, Brad Pitt, Bruce Springsteen and John Wayne were also debaters.

We hope to see you!

For the third consecutive year the Robbinsdale Cooper Debate Team will be representing Minnesota at the National Debate Tournament.  Senior Emilia Spalding has qualified for the 2008 National Tournament in Student Congress debate.  During the five hours of debate, Emilia out maneuvered students from 18 different schools to secure her second straight trip to the National Tournament.  Student Congress debate pits students against each other debating bills and resolutions ripped from today's most current topics.

Emilia will be joining sophomores Erik Legried and Chyenne Thibodo at the National Touranment.  The 2008 National Debate and Speech Tournament will be held in Henderson, Nevada from June 15th to the 20th.  Upcoming qualifying events in both Student Congress and Speech are still to be held in February and March where Cooper hopes to qualify more students for the tournament.  More information about the 2008 National Tournament can be found at http://www.nflonline.org/ and by visiting  www.CooperDebate.com

For the third consecutive year the Robbinsdale Cooper Debate Team will be representing Minnesota at the National Debate Tournament.  Sophomores Erik Legried and Chyenne Thibodo qualified for the 2008 National Tournament in Public-Forum debate.  During the two day qualifying event held at Mankato West High School, Erik and Chyenne were able to hold off stiff competition from Edina, Eagan and The Blake School along with a host of other top teams representing over 25 local high schools.  Debating whether Civil Disobedience is appropriate in the fight for justice.

The 2008 National Debate and Speech Tournament will be held in Henderson, Nevada from June 15th to the 20th.  Upcoming qualifying events in both Student Congress and Speech are still to be held in February and March where Cooper hopes to qualify more students for the tournament.  More information about the 2008 National Tournament can be found at http://www.nflonline.org/ and by visiting  CooperDebate.com

The two-day event ended up with two Cooper debaters in the top 4.  Sophomore Erik Legried and Senior defending state champion Dan Willey qualified for the two-day event the previous week.  Debating the merits of preemptive strikes to prevent nuclear acquisition by dangerous nations, Dan and Erik race to the top of the standings.

Erik finished the preliminary rounds ranked in fourth place and Dan being the top seed.  The top 8 students moved to a single elimination bracket to crown the state champion.  After winning both of their quarter-final matches, Dan and Erik were paired to meet each other in the Semi-Final debate.  In the Semi-Final round, by coaches decision, Dan progressed to the final round where he eventually lost to Eastview's Akshar Rambachan on a 4-3 decision.

This marks the first time in school history Cooper was in the final round in consecutive years at the state tournament and also the first time to have two students in the final four.

The Cooper Debate team is coached by DJ Brynteson.  For more information please visit http://www.cooperdebate.com.

Make it four.  That is the number of years in row the Cooper Debate has qualified for the 2008 MSHSL State Tournament.  Congratulations to senior Dan Willey and Sophomore Erik Legried qualified for qualifying for the state debate tournament.  This marks the first time in school history Cooper has been able to qualify the maximum two students for the state tournament.

Willey returns to the MSHSL State Tournament to defend his title.  Willey goes after tournament history as no Lincoln-Douglas debater has ever won the state tournament in back-to-back years in its 106 year history.

Legried is the youngest student to qualify for the state tournament from Cooper.

The state tournament will be held at Rosemount High School on January 18th and 19th.  The MSHSL State Debate Tournament is the oldest tournament hosted by the MSHSL entering its 107th year.