Cooper High School Student Qualifies for National Debate Tournament
For many high school students, classroom gossip and cultural touchpoints dominate the day’s conversation.
That’s not the case for Lily Plahn.
The Cooper junior feels most at home arguing politics with fellow debaters.
“The debate team is definitely the only spot where I get to like, be able to fully talk about international politics, or even like, a lot of domestic policy in the U.S.,” Plahn said. “I never really did that many sports. I couldn’t connect to that many sports or activities when I was a kid. So debate is the first-ever extra curricular that I’ve been really good at.”
Competitive debate has offered Plahn a unique chance to connect with other students.
“I think there’s also this bond between debaters … there’s no other activity where I would be able to go up to a kid from another school and be like, ‘did you hear about the conflict in the Middle East this weekend?’ or something like that,” Plahn said.
Lily Plahn prepares for the National Speech and Debate Tournament after taking first place in congressional debate at the state tournament.
Debate coach DJ Brynteson said hard work at practice helped prepare Plahn for a larger stage.
“They do a great job of taking incredibly complex ideas and concepts and kind of breaking them down into digestible ideas,” he said.
That practice paid off this January at the State Debate Tournament.
Plahn took home a first-place prize in congressional debate.
“So I cried my eyes out when I found out that I won — It was a really heavy and emotional moment,” Plahn said.
The victory cemented Plahn’s place in a school district that’s produced some of the state’s top debaters in recent years.
“Another part of winning state was just being able to prove like, I’m here and Robbinsdale is here,” Plahn said. “Like we may be a small team but we are very mighty.”
In June, Plahn will represent Cooper at the National Speech and Debate Tournament in Iowa.
Cooper High School
