We have a World Champion in our midst!

Grade 11 student Zac W., along with four other Canadian debaters, competed at Harvard's prestigious World Schools Invitational Debate Tournament last weekend against 300 students from around the world. After nine rounds of debate with teams from Canada, Ghana, South Africa, India, and Australia, Zac and his team made the finals against Mexico. In a 6-1 decision, they won! ⁠

This accomplishment makes Zac Harvard's 2025 World Debate Champion. He has also recently been invited to travel to Saskatoon this spring to try out for Team Canada – a goal he's been working toward for several years.

Daniel J., a Grade 8 student, also competed at Harvard's tournament with a team of students external to Collingwood. Because it was his first time at an event of that magnitude, he knew the competition would be tough. Impressively, Daniel and his team placed 7th among 45 novice teams and he personally ranked 6th in the novice speaker category, out of 195. Here's what Daniel had to say about the experience:

"More than the results, it was the experience that shaped me — preparing cases until 4am, sprinting to rounds in the rain, and unwinding with scary movies on the final nights," Daniel says. "Facing teams like Team Mexico and Team USA pushed me to grow, and watching top-tier debaters sharpened my skills in strategy, clarity, and presence."

Daniel gives credit to Collingwood and more experienced students like Zac who have provided mentorship along the way. He's very excited to keep growing and competing on the international stage.

This exciting news comes a few weeks after Zac and Xiao Bo Z. travelled to Oxford University to ⁠compete in the British Parliamentary Finals over spring break, as the only team from B.C. The competition was fierce, and so it was a big deal that our Collingwood team made it to the Grand Finals. Unfortunately they lost in a 3-2 decision, but their talent was clearly evident. ⁠
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Congrats to Zac, Xiao Bo, and Daniel for their incredible success on the global debate stage! ⁠