By Rachel Lippmann, KWMU
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwmu/local-kwmu-832893.mp3
St. Louis – Starting Thursday, 76 debaters from urban school districts across the nation will gather in Chicago to start the process of crowning the best from their ranks.
Four of the participants in the Chase Urban Debate League National Championships will be St. Louis Public Schools students.
KWMU's Rachel Lippmann introduces us to these unexpected stars.
Update April 27, 2009 Both St. Louis teams went 3-3 and missed advancing to the octofinals on speakers points, which are the rankings judges give to the debaters on how well they speak. Tournament officials, however, arranged for special semifinal and final rounds for the top four teams from the 12 first-year leagues. Both St. Louis teams participated in those rounds - Kayla Massey and Lorrie Leong of Central VPA took first, while Charles Roy and J.D. Spalding of Gateway took third.