Colorado Public Television to Broadcast Final Rounds of Student Debate Tournament, BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY, Featuring Colorado High School Students

Debaters exemplify how debate should be done

October 24th, 2016 – On Friday, November 4 at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Colorado Public Television (CPT12, PBS) will feature Colorado high school students competing in the final rounds of our original student debate tournament, BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY, in which they argue real Colorado issues in true debate style.

The tournament began in September with four schools participating including East High School, Cherry Creek High School, and George Washington High School in the Denver metro area and St. Mary’s High School in Colorado Springs. Each school chose their debate topic and students prepared to argue both sides, not knowing which side they would argue until a coin flip in the studio.

Winners from round one included: Jack Cohen from East High School, Cole Ricke from St. Mary’s High School, Monroe Roush from George Washington High School and Andrew Ying from Cherry Creek High School.

“This series not only highlights the amazing talent of these students, but it also shows all of us a model at how to really examine issues from both sides, an ability far too uncommon recently,” said Dominic Dezzutti, Vice President of Content for Colorado Public Television. “These high school students showed us how debating should be done and left our judges with a very difficult job selecting a champion.”

Judges for the final rounds of the tournament include Shaun Boyd, political specialist at CBS4 in Denver, Dominic Dezzutti, and Eric Sondermann, an independent political analyst. Alan Gionet of CBS4 in Denver moderated each debate.

The finalists for BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY will broadcast on Colorado Public Television on November 4:

• 9:00 p.m. – 3rd Place Match between St. Mary’s High School and George Washington High School, debating if Colorado should adopt an open primary system.
• 9:30 p.m. – Championship Round between East High School and Cherry Creek High School, debating if Colorado should raise its minimum wage to $12/hour by 2020.

BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY is now in its third year, but premiered its tournament format in 2016. Previous episodes can be seen online at video.cpt12.org/show/both-sides-story.