Last year, as we began our partnership with the Boston Debate League (BDL), enlisting lawyers to be judges for debate tournaments, there was a buzz of excitement throughout the BBA. In a few short months the partnership is already a resounding success.
Every month from October through March, BDL holds debate tournaments for Boston Public High School debate teams. So far this year, almost 40 BBA volunteers have been judges at tournaments. After a successful January tournament, BDL reached out to the BBA to thank us for our collaboration:
This month we had a struggle for volunteers but it all worked out. The BBA members allowed our tournament to have a good core of knowledgeable judges for our more experienced divisions (varsity/championship) and made themselves available for our divisions who didn’t have as many volunteers sign up to judge for the weekend. Thank you so much for your support.
In addition to the judges, there are also four BBA members who are mentors for BDL. These mentors spend one to two hours a week supporting a debate team in a particular high school.
The BBA’s partnership with BDL fulfills three of the BBA’s many public service goals: 1) using lawyering skills to make a significant impact on the Boston community, 2) providing BBA members with a meaningful volunteer opportunity, and 3) expanding the diversity pipeline into the legal profession.
Boston Debate League 2010 City Championship
We would like to thank our volunteers:
Mentors
Catherine Drislane (Boston Latin Academy)
Greg Peterson (Charlestown)
Jessica Block ( EMK High School)
Stephanie Hoelplinger ( Irving Middle School)
Judges
Allison Hynes
Angelo Guisado
Ashley Hayes
Camal Robinson
Caroline Hanania
Christina Miller
Courtney Zhou
Deborah Goddard
Edmond Ford
Elizabeth Ybarra Crean
Erica Carroll
Fran Sheehan
Heather Sit
Jacqueline Delbasty
Jacquelyn Redmond
Jesse Grove
Jonathan Driscoll
Kathleen Micciche
Kerlin Jean-Louis
Kyu Cho
Lei Reilley
Mark Zglobicki
Michael Boudett
Michael Dsida
Michael Sugar
Natalie Galley
Nina Mathur
Rachna Mathur
Reidan Fredstrom
Robert Ullmann
Ryan Mulloy
Shannon Dale
Stephen Marsters
Tarae Howell
Vickie Henry
William Fitzpatrick
For more information about volunteering or the program, please contact Katie D’Angelo, Public Service Programs Coordinator, at kdangelo@bostonbar.org.
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