Students from the City of London School for Girls participated in debate training exercises and exhibition debates in Los Angeles as part of an ongoing exchange program between the school and Harvard-Westlake.
The debaters came to LA during a break from their school, from Oct. 18 to Oct. 25.
The students, who stayed with the families of Tommy Choi ’14, Lauren Sonnenberg ’14 and Luke Holthouse ’13, debated against members of Harvard-Westlake’s team at the middle school campus, and also participated in three debates at Claremont McKenna College against teams comprised primarily of Team USA debaters. Between these debates, the team practiced at Marlborough High School.
The debates covered topics including the legalization of prostitution, the use of drone strikes and whether or not voting in an election should be compulsory. The visiting English teams won all of their contests.
“We all go to school together and are lucky that our coach is part of the England selection team so is very involved in our training,” Issy Fidderman, one of the visiting debaters said. “Most of us have tried out for our national team or been parts of the England Development squad.”
While they weren’t competing, the debaters had an opportunity to explore Los Angeles.
“We went to Rodeo Drive with our coach, which was brilliant,” Fidderman said. “Trying on $2,000 dresses was hilarious, but I think a highlight of LA had to be In-N-Out Burgers, or maybe Cold Stone. We miss those a lot.”
Six Harvard-Westlake debaters will travel to London this summer as a part of the same program.