USCHS advances to Top 32 in international debate competition

The Upper St. Clair students are part of the Speech & Debate Team, which is coached by teachers Ben Edwards and Dave Watson. Upper St. Clair is one of only two schools in Pennsylvania to advance to the next round of competition.

Sponsored by the Brewer Foundation and New York University, the IPPF is the first and only contest that gives high school students around the world the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy.

“We commend all the advancing teams for their achievement on this global stage,” William A. Brewer III, chairman of the Brewer Foundation and founder of the IPPF, said. “This is among the most complex and pressing issues on which our students have ever debated. As advocates, our law firm started this competition with a vision to promote what we see here – an extraordinary level of academic research, scholarship, and discourse.”

This year, 283 teams, representing schools in 26 countries and 30 U.S. states, submitted qualifying round essays affirming or negating the 2024-25 IPPF topic, “Resolved: Equitable access to pharmaceuticals should be prioritized over protecting intellectual property rights.” Those essays were reviewed by a committee, which determined the “Round of 64” teams based on the overall quality of each 3,000-word essay.

In November, the “Round of 64” teams began a single-elimination, written debate competition. Each team was assigned a position (affirmative or negative) and then volleyed papers back and forth with another team via email. A panel of judges reviewed the essays in the order they were presented and selected the winning teams. In that round, Upper St. Clair High School advanced over a team from Neev Academy in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

The “Top 32” round is currently underway. The Upper St. Clair team now debates a team from duPont Manual High School from Louisville, Kentucky.

The advancing “Sweet 16” teams will be announced on Feb. 17, 2025. On March 30, the “Elite 8” teams will be announced. Those teams will travel to New York City on an all-expenses-paid trip to the IPPF Finals as guests of the Brewer Foundation. The IPPF Finals take place on May 3, 2025, at the Harold Pratt House.

The IPPF Finals give students the opportunity to participate in oral debates in front of some of the world’s foremost experts in debate, business, law, and politics. The winning team will take home the “Brewer Cup” and a $10,000 grand prize.

---

Top 32 Teams

• AfterSkool Learning Centre (Team 1) - Singapore, Singapore
• Akademeia High School - Warsaw, Poland
• Alpha Co - La Crescenta, California
• Alpharetta High School - Alpharetta, Georgia
• Artemis Debate - Shanghai, China
• The Blake School - Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Blue Valley High School - Stilwell, Kansas
• The British International School Abu Dhabi - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• Carroll Senior High School - Southlake, Texas
• Cornerstone Collegiate Academy of Seoul - Seoul, Republic of Korea
• Damien Memorial School - Honolulu, Hawaii
• The Davidson Academy of Nevada - Reno, Nevada
• duPont Manual High School - Louisville, Kentucky
• Ethos Academy - Vancouver, BC, Canada
• The Future Leaders Program - Dallas, Texas
• Ivy Bridge Academy - Johns Creek, Georgia
• Jayshree Periwal International School - Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
• Kealakehe Public High School - Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
• North Allegheny Senior High School - Wexford, Pennsylvania
• Notre Dame San Jose High School - San Jose, California
• Oswego East High School - Oswego, Illinois
• Outschool - Spokane, Washington
• Peak to Peak Charter School - Lafayette, Colorado
• Potomac Oak - Rockville, Maryland
• Ronald Reagan High School - San Antonio, Texas
• Rowland Hall - Salt Lake City, Utah
• Slovak Debate Association - Bratislava, Slovakia
• Solon High School - Solon, Ohio
• Upper St. Clair High School - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• The Westminster Schools - Atlanta, Georgia
• Westwood High School (Team 2) - Austin, Texas
• William Mason High School - Mason, Ohio