Arguing against her own beliefs, the Newark teenager claims the prestigious debate victory – “Mosaic.”

Should the government mandate that workers be paid a living wage? The topic is controversial.

In fact, it was debated last weekend when a team from Science Park High School in Newark, led by senior Ashley Lourenco, took first place in one of several categories at the prestigious New York City Invitational Debate and Speech Tournament.

Ashley, 17, won the tournament’s Lincoln-Douglas debate, a 1-on-1 format following the series of debates between then-U.S. Rep. Abraham Lincoln (R-Illinois) and incumbent U.S. Sen. Frederick Douglas (D-Illinois). , in their 1858 Senate contest, which Lincoln won two years before his election as president.

Science Park, a magnet school in the Newark Public Schools district, has long prided itself on its interscholastic debate program, but Ashley is the school’s first winner of the NYC Invitational tournament, a competition that attracts students from across the country and is now in its 54th year . takes place every year.

She took first place in the preliminary and elimination rounds before the final on Sunday against a student from Texas.

“I’m happy to win,” said Ashley, who has been debating competitively for five years and has spent 50 hours researching the living wage issue. “I’ve been waiting for this to happen for a long time.”

Ashely not only won her category, but also won the tournament’s best speaker award.

Although she was the only participant representing Science Park on the debate stage, Ashley was supported by a team of Science Park juniors including Risiqat Adeniji, Mofoluwa Olagadeyo and David Adelowo, as well as a cadre of coaches from the elite of the Science Park Alumni debate program .

“Even though you’re competing as an individual, you’re part of an overall team,” said her head coach, Science Park teacher and debate program coordinator Jonathan Alston, who attributed Ashley’s success to her composure under cross-examination.

Another win similar to last weekend’s will qualify Ashley for the annual Tournament of Champions at the University of Kentucky in April, the national championships for high school debaters.

Ashley, who hopes to attend the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Yale, Cornell or Brown University in the fall, is from Newark, her mother is an elementary school teacher and her father works in construction.

Lincoln is widely credited with winning his debates against Douglas based on his argument against the expansion of slavery anywhere in the fledgling Union beyond the states that had already permitted it, in contrast to Douglas’ position in favor of “popular sovereignty” or the right to slavery Newly founded states can decide for themselves.

But while Lincoln opposed slavery well beyond the debate, Ashley said she personally disagreed with the position she was tasked with defending for the tournament, namely that the government should not require employers to provide workers with a “living wage.” Wages” to be paid. A living wage is typically defined as the minimum income that workers in a given region need to meet their basic needs.

But that’s the point of competitive debate, Ashley said: to use research and presentation skills honed through hard work and experience to construct and win an argument, regardless of whether you believe what you’re arguing or not.

The choice of words, tone of voice, visual presentation and other persuasive skills also help, including the kind of passion that, like an athlete, can arise purely from competition.

“The living wage should be mandatory,” Ashley said. But putting her beliefs aside, she added: “I don’t think it’s difficult because any argument is what you do. It’s just a matter of skill.”

“And,” the persuasive teenager added, “it’s fun.”

Other stories from Steve Strunsky:

Converted into a “Coloured School,” the museum would provide lessons in the history of Black people in Newark

Comparison of Philip Roth and Amiri Baraka, Newark’s “almost exact contemporary”.Aries’

Critics say consistent school start times will lead to traffic nightmares in Newark

Steve Strunsky can be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com

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