Coney Island Prep Makes History at Nationals

Sorry to post this so late, but here’s the press release from this past spring after NCFL Nationals - DiCo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brooklyn High School Makes History at Debate National Championship

First Student From a Low-Income NYC High School to Advance to Finals in Over 25 Years

A student from Coney Island Prep High School advanced to the Final Round at the National Catholic Forensic League Speech and Debate National Championship tournament this past Memorial Day weekend in Washington DC. It marks the first time in at least 25 years that a student from a New York City public school where the majority of students come from low-income households has advanced to the Congressional Debate Final Round at this tournament.

This tournament brings together the top student competitors from across the country. Thousands of students compete throughout the year for the opportunity to qualify, making it one of the most selective and respected academic competitions in the United States. Students across Brooklyn and Queens competed at a qualifying tournament in March to earn a spot to Nationals, and only six made the cut.

Chase, a senior, came in first place at that qualifying tournament, becoming the first on his team to qualify for Nationals. His school, Coney Island Prep, is a public charter school in Gravesend, where nearly 80% of students identify as people of color and nearly 90% qualify for free or reduced lunch. 

Coney Island Prep launched its debate team just two years ago in partnership with Brooklyn Debate League, a nonprofit organization that builds nationally competitive debate teams in NYC public schools. Through its gradual release model, Brooklyn Debate League builds the capacity of NYC public schools to establish and grow competitive Speech and Debate teams. This milestone reflects the growing strength of debate programs in historically under-resourced schools.

K.M. DiColandrea, Executive Director of Brooklyn Debate League, calls Chase’s achievement a “historic moment for Brooklyn and for New York City as a whole.” They add that this result “shows what’s possible when public school students have access to high-quality Speech and Debate programming.” 

Since October, Chase and his teammates have been debating nearly every week in local, state and national tournaments. At Nationals, Chase competed in a field of nearly 200 of the top debaters in the country. He argued to protect public school funding by limiting private school vouchers, pushed anti-lobbying through congressional term limits, and advocated the importance of international aid specifically for Venezuela and Somaliland. He and two of his Brooklyn Debate League teammates advanced to Semi-Finals - top 55 - and then he further advanced to Finals where he finished 16th in the nation.

Russell Booker, who coaches the debate team at Coney Island Prep, calls Chase “the perfect example of hard work and intelligence overcoming any obstacle” and adds that “his success is the result of hard work all year, and never giving up on himself or his team.”

Chase’s hard work landed him not just a spot in the Final round at Nationals but in the incoming freshman class at Howard University.

He calls this weekend “a fairytale ending” to his high school debate career, and is grateful that debate showed him that “no matter what position you're in, your voice can guide you wherever you want.”