Three Cedartown High School students will represent the United States in the First Parliamentary Debate Personnel Development World Cup.
Seniors Elizabeth Arencibia, Callie McDonald and Holly Robinson will be flown to Japan on January 20 to join other high school students from around the world seeking to win the title of debate champion. Cedartown’s Kimoto Tech, Inc. – a local industry with headquarters in Tokyo — became involved in the debate event after being selected by a major shareholder from KIMOTO Co., LTD. Japan. Because of Kimoto’s location in Cedartown, it was decided that students from Cedartown should represent the United States and Kimoto in the world debate. The three students were selected based on their outstanding grade point averages. The students will be accompanied by Cedartown High School English teacher Jennifer Cupp.
The debate is a true international competition. Teams from Japan, Vietnam, Nepal, Israel, France, Madagascar, China, South Korea, Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Iran, Turkey, Russia, India, the United Kingdom and Ireland are slated to complete in the debate, which will take place at Kawagoe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
The debate is classified as impromptu style and will be conducted in the English language. Students will be given a topic 15 to 20 minutes before the debate begins. They will have a short window of time to research and prepare before taking the stage to debate their topic. Topics are selected from among a wide range of categories, including society, politics, ethics, the environment, and international issues.
Teams are designated as either an affirmative team or a negative team for each topic. Participating teams do not get to choose whether they are affirmative or negative and will not know prior to taking the stage which stance they will debate.
Cedartown Kimoto Tech President Miguel N. Leal and Human Resource Manager Tania Drain, recently met with the Cedartown students and their parents to discuss the details of the debate procedure and what to expect during their time in Japan. “These students have been selected because they are the cream of the crop. We are excited to have them represent Cedartown, Kimoto and the United States in this debate, and we know they will represent us well,” Leal said.
Kimoto Tech continues to strengthen its community footprint by connecting Cedartown to events such as the world debate. In the summer of 2014, Kimoto partnered with the City of Cedartown and hosted the 10th Annual Kimoto Cup, billed as the Japan-U.S. Friendship Baseball Game at the City’s Bert Wood Youth and Athletic Complex.