The Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) debate team has won the semi-final round of the Regional National Tourism Debate against Knox College of Jamaica 1036 to 996.

Students Naomi Omwufuju, Adrianne Thomas and Kande Richardson debated in proposition of the moot, “Developments in Artificial Intelligence (A.I) pose a threat to the cybersecurity of Caribbean Islands”.

The debate team coached by teachers Ms. Luceena Weekes, Mr. Randolph Findlay and Mr. Andre Massiah of the ESHS also scored the highest points ever in the history of the competition. They will face Turks and Caicos Islands for the finals in a few weeks. 

The BVI Tourist Board also followed through with its earlier promise to allow the debate team entry to participate in the Regional National Tourism Debate following their win in the local inter-secondary school debate championships.

Ms. Naomi Omwufuju shared some insight on the team’s experiences thus far and their morale heading into the finals of the Regional National Tourism Debate. She said the team’s preparation work over the years in participating in the Inter-secondary School Debates is what lead them to win over Knox College of Jamaica.

Ms. Omwufuju said, “We knew that we were going against Knox College and we knew that they were the champions from the last debate, so even if we lost, we can still put third place on our resume since there was only three teams left. But then we actually won and we could not hold in our excitement, thankfully our camera was not on so you could not see it on the livestream.”

Naomi said she is proud of the team and their win show even though the members did not have much time to prepare for that debate, their experiences from past debates built up and pushed them across the threshold.

She added, “Now that we have bested the defending champions, I feel like we can do anything, so imagine what we can do with extra preparation. Look out for ESHS to win the Regional National Tourism Debate,” Ms. Omwufuju.

The Ministry of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports continues to provide high quality educational services, as well as facilitate access to and participation in sports and recreation, in order to enrich the lives of all residents of the Virgin Islands.

Photo 1, 2, 3: Photos of the ESHS Debate team winning in the national Inter-secondary school debate championship 2024.

 (Photo credit: GIS)