NEWARK TECH STUDENTS COMPETE IN STATEWIDE DEBATE - FEATURED IN STAR LEDGER

High schoolers fling logic and reason at each other
Annual Newark Invitational Debate tests 240 teens, such as Zuri Hunter

BY SHARON ADARLO
Star-Ledger Staff

Zuri Hunter has the demeanor more of an easygoing teenager than of a skilled and competitive debater. But when the petite and soft-spoken 16-year-old Newark resident entered one of her matches yesterday, her brown eyes took on a hard edge, and she threw a skeptical glance at her opponent, a student from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Corporate Academy.

"Can you sum your argument in simpler terms?" Hunter asked DeAsia Oliver before the two teens parried back and forth on environmental policy.

The students were taking part in the 28th annual Newark Invitational.

The two-day event, which started Friday night in East Side High School and Science Park High, is one of the largest debate gatherings for high school students in the Northeast, said Brent Farrand, one of the organizers. More than 240 students from 43 different schools and six states participated.

The meet culminated with the final rounds last night.

At Science Park High School, students were staging debates in the style of Abraham Lincoln vs. Stephen Douglas, said Tariq Ra heem, a debate coach and teacher at Technology High School in Newark. Like those famous men who wrangled over the issue of slavery while running for the Illinois Senate, students were set to argue on topics that dealt with morals and ethics.

Hunter and her teammate, Wil mot Wilson, were debating at East Side High, where students argued on policy issues.

This year the teens were charged with debating whether the government should substantially increase alternative energy incen tives in the country, Farrand said.

Coaches prepped their students inside classrooms while other teens milled around in the maze-like hallways, munching on snacks as they looked over their notes between matches.

Hunter and Wilson, relatively new to debating, were armed with a worn stack of blue papers typed with notes and references to articles about the environment.

Hunter says she had wanted to be a creative director for an adver tising firm after she graduated from college. But after she joined the mock trial club at her school, Newark Tech High School, she discovered she wants to be a lawyer. Sharp debating skills will come in handy for her job, she said.

Wilson says he had wanted to become a computer engineer until he saw Barack Obama rise to the presidency. Now Wilson wants to become a lawyer, get into politics and become a senator.

First he's looking to brush up on his debating skills.

"It helps me get my thoughts together," Wilson said about join ing the debate team. "It increases my speaking skills."

Farrand, who is the coordinator for the speech and debate program for Newark school district, said, "It's our belief that debate is the most effective way to teach critical thinking and thoughtful, responsible citizenship."

It can also lead to a good job and scholarship offers, he said. The school system produced one stu dent who recently snagged a $40,000 debate scholarship to a college.

"There's nothing that compares to it," Farrand said about the art of debating. "It's a sport."

Please Join Us ~~ Team Newark Tech at the ACS~”Making Strides Against Breast Cancer” Walk ~ Sunday October 19, 2008

Please plan to join Team Newark Tech on Sunday, October 19, 2008 for the ACS~"Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk". The team will meet at the Newark Tech Campus at 8:30 AM and walk to the event located downtown at Military Park. The event is scheduled to begin at approximately 9:00 AM.

This event is the first of several service learning projects planned for the Health Occupations students this year. In service learning projects such as this one, students function as health education advocates. This is a banner year for the Health Occupations program in particular, because of the re-structuring that makes Newark Tech the home for both the dental and nursing assisting programs. This event marks our first endeavor as a unified program.

Beginning the first week of October, the Health Occupations students of Newark Tech will begin an in-house fundraising campaign school wide. We accept donations in any dollar amount. Last year we were able to raise nearly $400.00 dollars. We were also fortunate to have those funds matched by a corporate sponsor thanks to one of our   terrific parents, Mrs.Thalia Holmes~ Newark Tech's PTSA president. This year we hope to surpass our previous fundraising efforts and have set the mark at $500.00 dollars.

Our outreach will include taking the campaign to the community at large on the evening of Newark Techs’ Open House event. Students will have a table clinic arranged to disseminate health education materials, and register family and friends committed to walking to raise awareness and money for prevention, research and a cure.

Please sign up on October 15, 2008 and help Team Newark Tech in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer.

Allied Health Programs /Newark Tech Center~ Senior Internship at UMDNJ~NJDS  

The students of the Dental Assistant program are nearing the completion of their senior capstone experience, an eight week internship at UMDNJ~New Jersey Dental School. The students have participated in a series of the dental schools’ clinical settings. Specifically, there have been concentrated experiences in the Oral Maxillofacial Radiology clinic, and the new, state-of-the art Comprehensive Care Pavilion facility. The Newark Tech students have been welcomed by the NJDS faculty and staff, and have thoroughly enjoyed working chairside with the NJDS dental students.