I am a sophomore in Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence, New York. I am a participant on my school’s debate and mock trial teams, as well as having co-founded an in-school publication focused on student expression and artistry called the Rambam Reverie. I greatly enjoy public speaking, namely political and/or philosophical debate, as it has greatly helped me socialize and connect with others. I also believe that understanding both the world and the views of those in it is absolutely essential to be an active participant in helping shape the world for the better. My other interests include music, cooking (which I will forever defend as an art form), literature and I enjoy reading history in my spare time. I am extremely grateful to be able to participate, and hopefully represent the Jewish people, in Nationals for WSD this year, and cannot thank anyone who supports me enough for this amazing opportunity.

I'm currently a Junior at HAFTR High School, where I participate in many activities. As captain of the debate, model congress, and speech teams, I thrive on exploring diverse perspectives and honing my advocacy skills. Beyond the realm of debate and public speaking, I'm deeply involved in various extracurricular activities. As captain of the Volleyball Team and a member of the varsity Tennis Team, I embrace the challenges of leadership and teamwork on the athletic field. In my volunteer work, I teach Hebrew to students at Sunday school, which helps me connect with my community through education and mentorship. Academically, I've founded the Psychology Club, participated in the theater program, and lead the Art Club. Model congress and debate hold a special place in my heart as platforms where I can delve into global issues and policy analysis. I'm eagerly anticipating my second Nationals tournament, where I aim to represent my school and community with pride.
Being part of this institution grants me the privilege of breaking barriers as one of the first Orthodox Jewish teenagers to compete at the NSDA Nationals. It's an honor to open doors for Jewish teens worldwide, showcasing our talents and perspectives on a global stage. Your support will not only help me pursue my passion but also pave the way for others like me to follow their dreams.

I am a junior at the Frisch School in New Jersey, and I am so excited to be part of this year’s World School Debate Team. Aside from participating in Model Congress (through Citron) and being the captain of my school’s policy debate team, I am also a member of the Frisch fencing team and captain of our College Bowl team. Throughout the year, I volunteer as a peer tutor, and I volunteer at Friendship Circle camps over the summer. I am so passionate about debate because it teaches how to properly form an opinion and understand all sides of a given issue, skills which are invaluable in life. The opportunity to compete in Nationals, at the highest level in speech and debate, is something that I have always dreamed, and I am really excited to be able to represent the Orthodox Jewish community at Nationals.

I am a junior at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School. While I discovered debate because of my attraction to public speaking and nuanced argumentation, Big Questions Debate has recently provided an outlet for me to explore my interests in science and philosophy. I am a self-proclaimed STEM nerd: I conducted astrophysics research last summer through the Summer Science Program, I coach the North Shore math team, and I run biweekly coding classes at my local library. On the humanities side, I am a guest Op-Ed columnist for the Long Island Herald, co-Editor in Chief of the school newspaper, and President of Model Congress. (I also love solving Rubik's Cubes in my free time)! Debate has allowed me to integrate my various interests, and I am grateful and excited for the opportunity to attend Nationals and pursue them further.

I am a freshman at HAFTR high school. I am on the volleyball team, Model United Nations team, am a member and student representative for the Menachem Begin Scholars, where we discuss complex philosophical ideas, and do a great deal of community service on the community chest commitee for students. I also run a program at school to swab people to check for specific bone marrow types in a program called Gift of Life. However, debate has taught me the most throughout my freshman year. I have learned about more topics than I can count, but most of all, I have learned that there are always two sides to an argument. I am thrilled to have qualified for the Citron National Speech and Debate Team to go to the National Tournament. Throughout this school year I have competed in a many events such as Impromptu Speaking, Extemporaneous Debate, Lincoln - Douglas Debate and Congressional Debate. I will be competing for the House Congressional Debate Championship. This tournament will represent my first step to built on my principles of strategic leadership development through persuasive communication.

I am a junior at SKA and I am super excited to have qualified to compete in Original Oratory at Nationals this year. I joined my school’s debate team in 9th grade. In addition to participating in debate, I have competed in numerous model congress competitions. I participate in many other inside and out of school extracurricular activities as well. In school I am a writer for the mental health newsletter, a member of the mental health club, and I participate in many chesed opportunities that come my way. Outside of school I am a Friendship Circle volunteer, I am a volunteer for a Hebrew Sunday school for children with special needs, and I am one of the chapter leaders for the West Hempstead CTeen. My time on the debate team has been a way for me to learn better research tactics, meet other like minded individuals, and learn to better defend topics that I am passionate about. I have come a long way in my debate journey and I can’t wait to go even further. I am extremely proud to an Orthodox Jew competing at Nationals this June in the Original Oratory event. I am proud to be representing the Orthodox Jewish community at something this large in scale and hope that many more will be able to in coming years.

I am a freshman at HAFTR high school in Cedarhurst, NY. I am so incredibly grateful to be competing at the national level. Debate was never something I was interested in, but I wanted to try something new. I have competed actively In Lincoln-Douglas Debate throughout he year. I can now say that developing both sides of the argument, even when only agreeing with one, has allowed my perspective on things to be much more complex. Having always had anxiety, especially when presenting in front of the class, the aspect of debate that drew me in the most was that people who do it typically speak well and are seen as confident. Debate has helped me develop these habits to a degree where I have greatly improved my comfort level when giving speeches. Outside of debate, this year I have been involved in volunteering for Israel, helping pack gear for soldiers and families, and baking for a bake sale that raises money for displaced families due to the war. I’m very excited to compete at Nationals to pursue my passion even further.

I am a freshman at Kohelet Yeshiva High School in Lower Merion, PA. I am so excited to be a part of this year’s World School Debate team. I have participated in Model Congress (both through Citron and in other venues) since the seventh grade. In addition to debate, I have many other extracurricular activities, both academic and athletic. On the academic side, I participated in the Reading Olympics and, recently, a Hackathon against other Jewish schools. On the athletic side, I play basketball, soccer, and softball. In addition to those, I participate in NCSY and Bnei Akiva as both a participant and an advisor, and I work as a group leader at my synagogue. However, none of these activities have helped me nearly as much as debate. Debate has helped me find my voice and learn to be confident and outspoken in my opinions. Additionally, I have made steadfast and caring friendships through debate, and I can’t wait to make more at Nationals!

My name is Menachem (Michael) Lotwin, and I am a senior at Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence, New York. Aside from debate, I am involved in materials research with Stony Brook University and serve as the driver for my school's First Tech Challenge robotics team. In my spare time, I enjoy playing chess with my friends and pong pong with my younger brother. Last year, I attended the National Tournament for World Schools Debate (WSD) and Extemporaneous Debate (XDB), and in the latter I qualified for the elimination rounds (~200/1000 students). This year, I will be captaining Citron’s WSD team, where we will compete against students from across the world in the British Parliamentary style of pre-written and impromptu matches.

I am a Junior at Rambam Mesivta. In addition to speech and debate, I compete on other teams such as Mock Trial and the Math Team. I am an active member of my school community, participating in many clubs- which are mostly centered around literature- and an editor for various publications of my school. I also run a substack about philosophy, theology, and literature. I have been debating since in Middle School, and it has helped me become aware of issues, articulate my arguments, and work with a team. This year, I’m privileged to be competing in the National Tournament for Worlds School Debate. Worlds School Debate combines so many of the things I love- powerful speaking, rich argumentation, dramatized persuasion, contemporary issues, and philosophy. I look forward to actively representing the Jewish community in Des Moines!

Speech and debate have always been an outlet for expressing my thoughts. As a junior at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, I am a part of the Speech and Debate Team, Model Congress, Model UN, and Mock Trial teams. In addition to public speaking, I enjoy playing tennis. I also volunteer with Friendship Circle and Tomchei Shabbos and enjoy helping my community. Speech and debate have helped me voice my opinion on important issues in our world and it has given me the ability to hear other perspectives as well. I look forward to competing at Nationals to serve as an example of how an Orthodox Jew can compete at a national level too. I am so grateful for the opportunity to compete at the Nationals.

I’m a junior at Katz Yeshivah High School in Florida. In addition to the Debate Team, I am on my school’s Model Congress and Robotics Teams. I also volunteer weekly at a kids program called I-Shine and at my local synagogue. I participate in debate and model congress because it teaches me how to analyze a topic from all perspectives to gain an educated opinion and understanding of it. Additionally, debate and model congress help me build public speaking skills which are crucial in life beyond high school. I am thankful for the privilege of competing at the Nationals and hope that I can help represent the Jewish community and learn from competing against the best in the country.

I am a Sophomore at Rambam Mesivta, besides speech and debate, I am also active in my local Minyan, as I read from the Torah, as well as often being Chazzan. I dabble in cooking in my spare time and have founded a school wide cooking chat, with discussion anywhere from opinions on the best foods, to different recipes being shared. I also helped create a school paper, targeted at getting fellow students’ works published, whether in poetry, photography, opinion pieces, or creative writing! I really enjoy debate because it encourages me to learn about many topics in-depth that I otherwise wouldn’t have ever explored. I am really excited and thankful to have the privilege of competing in World Schools Debate at nationals this year.

I am a junior at Yeshivat Frisch, where I compete in the North Jersey Debate League. I love that debate enables me to argue viewpoints that are not my own; researching and engaging with fellow debaters gives me insight into different perspectives and a nuanced understanding of topics. Beyond debate, I am poetry editor for her school’s literary magazine, Kalliope, and rising editor-in-chief of my school’s newspaper, the Paw Print. I also enjoy the sciences: I compete in Science Olympiad, am a member of her school’s math team, and am outreach captain of our Varsity Robotics team. I also sequence and analyze genes through the Waksman Student Scholars Program. Outside of school, I completed the Civics Unplugged Civic Innovation Fellowship and Girls-Who-Code SIP. I spent this past summer living with a host family in Indonesia through NSLI-Y, a U.S. Department of State-funded scholarship program. I am so grateful to Citron Debate for enabling Orthodox Jewish students to compete at Nationals and am excited for the tournament this June.

I am a junior at Katz Yeshiva High School in South Florida. Aside from debate, I’m a writer for my school newsletter and am a volunteer for a kosher food bank. I originally joined debate so I could fill my resume, but after my first debate, I realized that I’m learning so much and am growing so much. So, the opportunity to go to Nationals is so exciting and will help me to streamline my growth. I also understand that most tournaments are on Shabbat, so this is an opportunity for a Jewish district to represent the Jewish community.

I am a junior at Rambam Mesivta, I’m also on Mock Trial, Book Chat, and various other clubs relating to literature and writing. Model congress has allowed me to really look at the process of analyzing actual laws, and it has also let me minimize my stutter to the point where it’s practically gone. I’m excited to go to Nationals to be in a more competitive environment and learn new skills.

I am a freshman at HAFTR High School in Cedarhurst, New York . I am the first student in our District to triple qualify to attend the National Speech and Debate Association’s National Tournament for Lincoln-Douglas Debate, the Senate in Congressional Debate, and Big Questions Debate. I will be competing for the Lincoln-Douglas Championship. I am very passionate about debate and  have gained valuable skills while competing. Debating has improved my  public speaking and communication skills.  I have also gained considerable knowledge on current events, and a foundation in philosophy.  Competing in debate has given my academic drive an outlet for building success while providing an intellectual challenge. I enjoy the challenge in debate that is looking at both sides to the same argument and defending both sides in different debate rounds. Competing in debate has also improved my connection to my Jewish heritage as debate is central in the religion as many Jewish scholars have debated on the Jewish faith throughout history. In my free time I enjoy reading literature, solving puzzles, sewing, cooking, and baking. I am grateful to have the opportunity to represent my community at the National Tournament .