November 2013
I visited the Dominican Republic in November 2013 to visit the Foundation of Assertive Argumentation’s 2013 tournament and to work with them on the further development of debate in the DR, including the integration of US-based debate opportunities for student in the DR. Fundaras was formed by five high school debate coaches in the DR in order to promote the development of debate opportunities for their students.
In the month of November, more than 250 students from throughout the DR participated in qualifying tournaments to attend the national championship in Santo Domingo.
Students who made the semifinals or better (top 4 teams) received scholarships to attend the Harvard High School Tournament in Cambridge, MA.
All of the students were invited to participate in a spectacular awards ceremony. Everyone was welcomed by MC Kainani Pfeifen.
Kainani has worked very hard with the FUNDARAS organization to develop their marketing materials and has been working with the students as they prepare to compete at Harvard.
Saidy Rijo, Dean of Admissions of UNIBE (Iberoamerican University, discussed the benefits of participation in debate in her university’s admission process.
And I delivered a presentation on the benefits of participating in debate.
After the tournament, I had a chance to work with Fundaras’ leadership to prepare eight-fourt students to compete at the Harvard high school tournament, to work on the organization of NFL Dominican Republic, and to organize their first qualifying tournament to US NFL nationals in April of 2014.