Padre Pio Academy Stuns Speech & Debate Establishment with Strong Performance
The classically educated Catholic students at a small, private academy in Lakewood’s Bird Town neighborhood continue to astound the Speech & Debate establishment. This past weekend, the Padre Pio Academy Debate Team continued its phenomenal season with a very strong performance at the Detroit Urban Debate League Tournament. The performance was even more remarkable given the fact that none of the debaters on the Padre Pio team has yet reached high school. The team of Gideon Fry and Balin Kimbrell won the JV High School Policy Debate division. They were 3-1 in preliminary rounds and then defeated Cass Technical High School in the championship round on a 3-0 decision. Cass Technical High School was undefeated going into the championship round having defeated Padre Pio earlier in the tournament. This is the first high school championship Gideon and Balin have won. It is the first time winning a championship round (not all tournaments have a championship round.)