• No School - Spring Break - Mar.14 - Mar.18
  • No School - Spring Vacation Day - April 15
  • HS Theatre Spring Show - April 8-9
  • End of 3rd Quarter - Mar. 31
  • HS One Act Plays- April 13 at 7pm
  • No School - Prof. Development Day - April 25
The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

Sophomores argue during debates

Students practice their debate speeches in class. They argue over whether SHS should switch to year-round school or not. Sophomore debates is an annual event for the English department. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Rickert.
Students practice their debate speeches in class. They argue over whether SHS should switch to year-round school or not. Sophomore debates is an annual event for the English department. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Rickert.

The Sophomore debates are an annual academic event that the English Department enjoys. The topic changes every year. This year, it happens to be year-round school.

“I’m writing for the affirmative solution for the debates meaning I’m supposed to argue that Sycamore should have year-round schooling. This is a pretty new concept for me considering I’ve never really thought about it before,” said Meagan Haupt, 10.

The debates are a tournament style event in which the teams first compete in their classes then they go onto the semi-final rounds and finally they go into the final rounds.

“The research seems like a lot of work at first but it’s very rewarding to learn so much about a topic and discuss it with classmates,” said Grace Hertlein, 11, one of the winners of the final debates.

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This process is very long and tiring for many people. It consists of constant research and rewriting of speeches.

“I’ve probably written my draft of my speech five times but I can’t wait to present it,” said Tim den Boer, 10.

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About the Contributor
Elizabeth Rickert, Print Editor-in-Chief
This is my fourth year on The Leaf staff and I’ve been honored with the position of Co-Editor-In-Chief. This means that I have the privilege of overseeing the creation of our print newspaper. In the past I’ve been the creative projects manager and the opinion chief.  In addition to writing for our newspaper, I spend my free time  being an active participant of Student Council as the Executive Vice-President of Communications and volunteering for Cincinnati Therapeutic Riding and Horsemanship. Outside of my many activities I can be found hanging out with my friends and reading lots of books  
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Sophomores argue during debates