News & Events

Twelve of our students competed at the March ADL Tournament, and we couldn't be prouder! Andrew and Alexandra earned 2nd place team and speaker awards. A fantastic showing from all of our debaters as they continue to grow and compete at the highest level.

Our students Ryan and Anaya competed against over 5,000 debaters at the prestigious Harvard Forensics Tournament, advancing all the way to Double Octafinals with a stellar 4-1 preliminary record. Anaya earned 15th place speaker in the middle school division. Our volunteer coaches Leanna and Aidan also competed in the high school novice division, going 4-1 and fighting to the Quarter Finals.

With close to 800 competitors from across New York competing at both locations, our Early Scholars were fantastic. In the elementary division, Mithuli Gunasekara & Ishaan Marwaha received 6th place overall teams. Mithuli earned 1st place overall speaker while Ishaan earned 4th place overall speaker! Justin Lam & Grant Cheng received 3rd place overall teams. In the middle school division, Melody Zheng took home 2nd place speaker and 2nd place team award with an undefeated record as a maverick!

Our first tournament of the year was a success! Congratulations to all who competed, especially Anaya and Ryan who earned an ADL championship bid. Katherine, Jason, Anaya, and Ryan are all headed to Harvard to represent Early Scholars on the national stage.

We are so proud of our middle school debaters for their first tournament of the season! Eleven first-time attendees stepped up to the challenge, and Jessica bravely went maverick for her very first time. What a way to kick off the season!

Congratulations to our high school teams on completing their first tournament of the season at the ADL Fall Classic! Sara, Melody, Bruno, and Kevin all competed, with special congratulations to Anaya and Ryan for their team award after a striking 3-0 undefeated record. A great start to the season!

We proudly recognized six students who truly exemplified excellence in debate this year: Leanna Cai, Rachael Lee, Karen Wang, Natasha Chiu, Aidan Wong, and Nathan Fu. These debaters stood out not just for their competitive success, but for their growth, leadership, and dedication — sharp thinkers, respectful communicators, and kind leaders.

We honored three outstanding debaters with our 2025 MVP Awards. Leanna Cai received the Competitive Excellence Award for her dominant performances all season. Karen Wang earned the Growth & Leadership Award for her transformation from 3rd grade into a confident leader who uplifts others. Natasha Chiu received the Competitive Composure Award for her focus, poise, and calm confidence under pressure.

Our Junior Scholars wrapped up an amazing season with All Star Awards recognizing standout young debaters for their growth, effort, and competitive spirit throughout the year.

What an incredible debate season in Debate Principles and Junior Scholars! From first speeches to final rounds, these groups have grown so much — as speakers, thinkers, teammates, and leaders. We wrapped up the season with End-of-Year Awards, celebrating each student's unique strengths, growth, and presence in class.

Early Scholars earned 2nd place in School Sweepstakes at the ADL ESMS 2025 State Championship — one of the toughest tournaments of the year!

The ADL ESMS 2025 State Championship was one of the toughest tournaments of the year! In elementary, Hayes Cho placed 4th overall speaker and Neel Mishall placed 7th overall speaker. The team of Hayes Cho, Gary Wang, and Owen Huber finished with a strong 2-1 winning record. Early Scholars proudly took home 2nd place in the School Sweepstakes! Thank you to our parent volunteers who judged: Yiatin Chu, Lixuan Wang, and Steven Cho!

Our teams shined at the Long Island Classic hosted by the ADL! In elementary, Hayes Cho got 9th place speaker, and first-time teams Mithuli & Sanchana and Grant & Matthew both went 2-1, earning 3rd place sweepstakes. In high school, Anaya Koswatta got 3rd place speaker and 1st place team. Rachael Lee got 8th and Leanna Cai got 10th speaker. All 3 high school teams went undefeated — earning Early Scholars 1st place sweepstakes!

Congratulations Team Early Scholars for taking home the big Sweepstakes Cup at the ADL State Championships! We are so proud of all the debaters and truly thankful for the best coaches at ES.

In elementary, Hayes and Joyce received 4th and 8th place speaker. In Middle School Intermediate, Raveen and Anaya went undefeated for 2nd place — beating one of Hunter's top teams despite being only in 5th and 6th grade! Leanna and Olivia also went undefeated for 3rd place, and Natasha and Karen took 4th. For sweepstakes, Early Scholars won 1st place in middle school beginner, 2nd in intermediate, and 1st place overall tied with Hunter!

While our elementary and middle school students were dominating at the ADL tournament, Zachary earned 3rd place in the Bronx NYCFL extemporaneous division, representing Regis High School — next stop: State Championships! Special thanks to our amazing high school support team who helped judge, coach, and mentor our middle schoolers: Antonio, Isabella, Jeanfe, Aaron Fu, Christian Lee, and Selena Fang, plus parent judges Bia and Vanesa. It truly takes a village!

This year the middle school division had over 200 teams — twice as much as last year! Natasha and Leanna went 4-1 in preliminary rounds and made it to the top 32 teams. Luiz, Austin, Raveen, and Anaya (only in 5th grade!) earned a winning record of 3-2. Our high schoolers Hillary and Methulia made it to octafinals, and Zachary debated in VARSITY extemp as only a sophomore! Shoutout to lab leader Sadie, a senior at Chapin, who made it to quarterfinals.

Our middle school teams competed on the topic of banning single-use plastics. Austin Guo and Luiz Takata went 4-0 and earned 2nd place team in the Gold division. Leanna Cai and Olivia Fang also went 4-0 for 3rd place team in Gold. In online scrimmages with the National Debate and Speech Association, Raveen and Anaya won in middle school, while Leanna, Natasha, Olivia, and Karen won in the open high school division!

At the ADL Winter Classic at Brooklyn Tech, Early Scholars received 3rd place in school sweepstakes — and SWEPT 1st place speaker awards in ALL divisions! Gia Rudra won 1st place speaker in elementary, Katherine Wan won 1st in middle school beginner, and Luiz Takata won 1st in intermediate. Anaya and Raveen took 1st place team overall, and the Marks twins earned 2nd place team in their very first tournament! Thank you to judges Bia, Vanesa, Samantha, and Jeanfelipe!

We competed at the ADL Fall Classic with over 700 debaters present! For our junior scholars, this was their first ever tournament — special shoutout to Gary Wang who earned the highest speaker score from our elementary group. In middle school beginner, Kaitlyn Lee, Emily Moon, and Katherine Wan went undefeated for 8th place team. In advanced, Natasha Chiu and Leanna Cai went undefeated for 6th place team, and Olivia Feng competed in her very first debate tournament!

The Ridge Debate Tournament was a new addition to our debate calendar but it was still a blast! Hillary and her partner Allison reached the quarterfinals while Jacob and Ricky reached the octafinals. Hillary was the 2nd place speaker, Jacob 4th place, and Ricky 6th place. Congrats also to Annie, Brandon, and Jeanfelipe who did extremely well!

In the first tournament of the season, our students came out swinging! Congrats to Hillary and her partner Allyson who were undefeated with a 4-0 record at the Scarsdale Tournament. We can't wait to see what else is in store for the rest of the season!

This tournament required teams to qualify, bringing fierce competition! In elementary novice, Jason Wang, Raveen Medage, and Kevin Zhao went 2-1 for 10th place. In middle school novice, Austin Guo and Luiz Takata went undefeated and became our Middle School Novice Champions — Luiz earned 2nd place speaker and Austin 8th! In the open division, Methulia Medage was the 1st place speaker, and the team of Natasha, Leanna, and Hillary went 2-1 with Hillary earning 11th place speaker.

Congrats to our Junior Scholars for a fantastic Spring tournament! The trio team of Ruby, Kaitlyn, and Riana earned 1st place team while Jason and Benjamin placed 2nd. The scores were really close according to our judge Hillary. Congrats to Ruby who won 1st place speaker and a special shoutout to Kaitlyn who attends the Tuesday class but came in to make her Saturday debut!

Our high schoolers represented at the 2023 NYCFL State Championships! Brandon Tung, debating for Stuyvesant, made it all the way to the octafinal round. Annie Li, also competing for Stuyvesant, made it to the semifinal round. Meanwhile, 8th graders Hillary Jacques and Methulia Medage competed at the ADL High School Championship — winning 8th place with a 2-1 record, with Methulia earning 1st place speaker overall in her division!

At the Long Island Classic hosted by the ADL, Karen Wang & Isabella Lu won 1st place overall in novice with a 3-0 record. Austin Guo & Luiz Takata won 2nd place overall, also going 3-0. In advanced, Jeanfelipe Jacques & Archie Ovitigala won 2nd place with a 3-0 record, and Methulia Medage & Hillary Jacques won 6th place team, also going 3-0. Natasha Chiu & Leanna Cai took 8th place with a 2-1 record.

Jeanfelipe won the 1st overall speaker award and received a perfect score! Natasha and Leanna also got perfect scores. In novice, Austin and Luiz earned 2nd place team overall. Special shoutout to Kevin and Raveen — both in 5th grade and fresh from Junior Scholars — who debated against 8th graders and won 2 out of 3 rounds!

Our Junior Scholars debated whether social media does more harm than good! First place team went to Jason and Raveen, with Leah and Melody taking second. Our speakers were awarded medals for outstanding performance, including Melody, Ruby, Benjamin, Riana, Hugo, and Katherine. Special shoutout to Andrea for supporting our judges and fellow classmates!

At the 48th Annual Harvard Forensics Tournament, our students debated Turkey's NATO membership. We sent Jeanfelipe, Archie, Daniel, Annie, Samantha, and Methulia to compete in Middle School Public Forum, with Zachary and Hillary representing M.S. 74. Annie Liu and Daniel Lin made it to the octafinal rounds, and Zachary and Hillary placed 6th and 20th in their category!

Our outstanding Junior Scholars debated whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. Congratulations to Jason and Raveen for earning the top team award with an undefeated record! Additional recognition went out for Strong Rebuttals, Best Summary, Best Final Focus, Tone & Confidence, Top Speaker, and Best Flowing.

Our debaters competed on high-speed rail at their second tournament of the season! Teams with winning records included Archie & Eugene, Kaitlyn & Jayden, Jeanfelipe & Austin, and YouYou & Nathan. Special congrats to Methulia & Hillary and Leanna & Natasha for going undefeated! Shoutout to Aaron Yu, who competed in Congress Middle School as only a Junior Scholar!

We made our first appearance at the Berkley Carroll School to debate high-speed rail! Congratulations to all our participating teams: Siyona & Karen, Jayden & Kaitlyn, Leanna & Natasha, and our youngest — Nathan & YouYou! We also congratulate Annie and Zachary who were top speakers at a tournament at the Bronx High School of Science.

Early Scholars speech and debate students used the skills learned in class to loudly and effectively demand change. With the increase in Asian-American hate crimes, students petitioned Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Meisha Porter to combat intolerance through education — demanding that lessons on Asian-American history & culture be integrated into the primary school curriculum, and that Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month become part of the school calendar.

Recognized as the #1 Speech & Debate Team in Queens, NYC! At the National UDL Virtual Tournament, Early Scholars triumphed as Gold and Silver Open Division champions. In the final NYC UDL Tournament, our debaters had a flawless 3-0 record, securing 1st place in all public forum categories. At the Lakeland Classic, our Open team was the 1st seed with a flawless 5-0 prelim record. We also launched our first high school PF division!

Early Scholars triumphed at the National Urban Debate League Middle School Virtual Tournament! In a grueling 2-day tournament, Hillary & Zachary Jacques won Gold Champions and Annie & Brandon won Silver Champions. Caroline earned 1st place speaker, Kaileigh 2nd, and Sadie 3rd! At the NYC UDL May tournament, Early Scholars made a clean sweep — winning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams in the intermediate division!

During the fall and winter 2020 season, Early Scholars held a series of scrimmages with other debate programs. Our middle school debaters debated whether the U.S. should adopt a digital dollar. Awards included Best Crossfire, Best Rebuttal, Best Argument, and Best Constructive. Our Junior Scholars also shined with awards for Best Orator, Best Speaker, and Top Argument!

The pandemic gave our debaters the chance to compete at the University of Kentucky Season Opener from the comfort of their homes! Debating Medicare-For-All, Brandon and Annie reached the quarterfinals, Thomas and Daniel made octafinals, and Zachary and Hillary sustained a winning record. Daniel Lin earned the 12th place speaker award from hundreds of competitors — a remarkable start to the 2020 fall season!

Our advanced Junior Scholars paired with novice-level middle schoolers to debate Universal Basic Income, while entry-level scholars tackled "No Homework on Fridays." Congrats to winners Chloe Cheng, Aarav Maini, Anna Wang, and Isabella Lu! Individual awards went to Audrey Liang (1st place), Pearl Feng (2nd), and Lauren Galsim (3rd). Siyona Kadam and Audrey Liang also earned top team honors!

We're victorious! Our debaters earned 1st and 2nd place speaker awards at the Lakeland Classic's National Debate Tournament — a testament to the hard work and dedication our students bring to every competition.

Our debaters competed against the nation's best at the prestigious 46th Annual Harvard National Forensics Tournament in Cambridge. An incredible showing from our team as they went head-to-head with top competitors from across the country!

Early Scholars was awarded 2nd place in the Public Forum Overall Sweepstakes for the 2018-19 season by the New York City Urban Debate League — the largest debate league in the country, sponsoring nearly 140 schools and more than 2,000 students. When NYCUDL started in 2011, fewer than 1% of NYC students had access to speech and debate education. We are proud to be part of those growing numbers!

Caroline triumphed at the Girls Debate Invitational Tournament at the Young Women's Leadership School in Queens, leaving undefeated! With only a few weeks of coaching, our courageous debaters demonstrated their prowess at this tournament sponsored by the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute. Caroline earned the 1st place speaker award in the Open Division as students debated April's NSDA topic on India's UN Security Council membership.

We brought home the gavel at NYCUDL's final preliminary tournament! Our debaters earned the top team award, capping off an incredible run in the league's monthly competition series. Next stop: City Championships!

Congratulations to all our teams at the State Championships at Hamilton Grange School! Hillary Jacques — only in 4th grade — competed as a maverick (solo debater) and left Day One undefeated, reaching the octo-finals as the youngest debater at the tournament. Katherine Lai and Amber Shen reached double octo-finals in the highest division. Megan Gu and Hillary also earned speaker awards!

On January 19th, our debaters argued the merits of the U.S. federal government prioritizing the reduction of the federal debt over the promotion of economic growth. Amber Shen & Katherine Lai earned 10th place team, and Caroline Xiong & Aiden Tsai took 12th place team. Kaileigh Dorcely earned 11th place speaker in the Open PF division!

Our debaters rang in the season with a BANG at the NYCUDL October tournament! Zachary & Hillary earned 1st place team, with Zachary taking 1st place speaker and Hillary 2nd place speaker. Annie earned 12th place speaker. We swept 5 of the top 20 individual speaker spots and 5 of the top 17 team spots!

Our budding entrepreneurs wowed the Bayside community with innovative pitches! After learning value propositions, market sizing, and competitive strategy, students presented creative solutions to everyday consumer problems like social media addiction and environmental sustainability. They also held a town hall on the EU's relationship to the UK's exit. Learning to pitch has endless real-world applications — from job interviews to college applications!

Our Junior Scholars are growing into brilliant, well-spoken, and driven thinkers! We can't wait to see them compete on the middle school level at the New York City Urban Debate League tournaments.