Troy High Trio Headed For Global Debate Contest Finals

TROY, MI – A global high school debate competition that started with 180 entries has now been whittled down to the Elite 8 and a team of three Troy High School students has advanced toward the $10,000 grand prize.

Troy High School students Sohan Vittalam, Niheera Aedla and Om Shah will compete in the finals, which will take place on May 1. The eight teams, representing schools from five U.S. state and two foreign countries, will compete for the title of "IPPF World Champion."

The competition, which is sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University, engages students from around the globe in a written and oral debate competition involving public policy issues.

The “Elite 8” teams are:

• Peak to Peak Charter School from Lafayette, Colorado
• Slovak National Team from Bratislava, Slovakia
• Troy High School from Troy, Michigan
• Potomac Oak from Rockville, Maryland
• Hobby School of Ulaanbaatar from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• The Hockaday School from Dallas, Texas
• Montgomery Blair High School from Silver Spring, Maryland
• Ivy Bridge Academy from Carrollton, Georgia

As part of the competition, each team was assigned a position on an issue and then volleyed papers back and forth over email for six weeks. A panel of judges then reviewed the 2,800-word essays and determined the winner.

At the finals, the students will compete in a final challenge to supplement their written scholarships with oral advocacy while competing in debates in front of some of the world's foremost experts in business, law and politics.

“The students who competed in this worldwide debate program this year reflect the qualities that lead to excellence – effort, energy and enthusiasm,” said William A. Brewer III, chairman of the Brewer Foundation and founder of the IPPF, in a prepared statement. “We are especially proud of these students who have earned the opportunity to compete in an advocacy forum unlike any other – the IPPF Finals. They will now supplement months of written scholarship with oral advocacy in pursuit of the title of 2021 IPPF World Champion.”