On 12 February, our school was happy to take part in the debating contest at Gymnasium Tiergarten. Early in the morning we met at Rathaus Steglitz and travelled together by U-Bahn, practising our speeches, giving each other tips and cheering one another on. The journey was full of energy and helped us feel ready for the competition.
We entered the contest with one junior team (Arjun, Janus, Jonas, Sana, Viktoria) and one senior team (Carlotta, Chowon, Cosima, Ella, Franzi, Leni, Leyla, Marie. This time, we had many first‑time debaters taking part, which was a real challenge because they also had to learn the rules and format of competitive debating while gaining confidence under pressure — and despite this, they did fantastic! In fact, Sana had joined the debating club only three days before the competition, yet she showed real determination on stage.
In the end, both our junior and senior teams won one debate each, which made us incredibly proud. We also received very positive feedback from the judges about our arguments, presentation and outstanding team work. Three of our students even got awarded “Speaker of the Debate” for their excellent performances: Arjun (9.1), Viktoria (9.1) and Leni (Q2). All of them showed strong delivery and clear thinking.
We would like to thank Gymnasium Tiergarten for hosting a great competition, and we are already looking forward to the next one — where we hope to win even more debates!
Paula Schultz
