Wednesday, August 20, 2008

High School Student Philip Hayes Wins National Debate and $150,000


Last night at the National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia, the Now Debate This! competition was held. As I shared yesterday, this was the final round and the finalists were Malik Neal of Pennsylvania and Philip Hayes of Texas. It was so exciting to witness a live debate and in one of the grand auditoriums of the National Constitution Center.
The moderator of the debate was Professor Robert George of Princeton University. He was quite impressive. Also there were Dr. Josephine M. Templeton and Dr. John Templeton, who first envisioned the whole idea of young people learning about historical figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and debating about their contributions. Ms. Mary Hagy, the executive producer of Now Debate This! gave a warm welcome.
Malik argued that Lincoln was the greatest president and Philip argued that George Washington was the greatest president. I was amazed at how articulate they were and how much knowledge that had managed to keep in their heads. They were both inspirational to me and my friends-Daniel, Gideon, Brandon and Kiera and my brother Auguste. We are all 13 years old or younger and we might just be a participant in Now Debate This! in the future.

Today on Fox News and Friends it was announced that Philip was winner of the debate. He won a$150,000.00 in scholarship money and Malik won $50,000.00 in scholarship money. Here is the link to the Fox News and Friends show with Malik, Philip and Dr. John Templeton. Remember, if you know someone who will be a junior in high school this year, they too can try to participate in this great debating program.

http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3040521&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/foxfriends/

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