PHILADELPHIA — Masterman School's debate team has no budget or coach. It competes against teams from well-funded suburban districts and pricey private schools with long histories of big-stage victories.
This month, the team just scored its own, with a pair of Masterman debaters winning the varsity public forum division at the 48th University of Pennsylvania Tournament, which drew 120 high school debaters from 23 states. It was the first such victory by a Philadelphia School District team at least in recent memory, organizers say.
The winning debaters, Henry Anastasi and Joshua Cohen, beat students with a combined $250,000 in private-school tuition, they said. (And yes, they wore Eagles shirts when they debated, a nod to another Philly team competing the same day.)
