East Ridge High School in Woodbury took second-place Saturday in the finals of a months-long international public-policy debate that began online and ended in head-to-head competition in New York City.
The three juniors -- Kevin Bi, Bradley Cho and Alicia Zhang -- fell to a team from Plano Senior High of Plano, Texas. Plano also defeated St. Paul Academy and Summit School in the semifinals.
Coverage of the event was presented on the Twitter page of the International Public Policy Forum (@IPPF).
East Ridge and St. Paul Academy qualified for the "Elite 8" competition in New York after each winnning three single-elimination contests involving the trading of written positions via email.
The competition switched to oral debates in New York.
The topic debated was "Resolved: Genetically modified organisms are essential to global food security."
East Ridge advanced to the finals Saturday by defeating Bellaire High of Bellaire, Texas, in the quarterfinals, and then Union High of Camas, Wash., in the semifinals.
SPA was making its second straight Elite 8 appearance. It defeated East Mountain High of Sandia Park, N.M., in the quarterfinals before being ousted by Plano Senior High in the semifinals.
