Following the debate team’s season closer, Ava Levin ’24 was ranked the 96th debater in the country in Policy Debate, with a total of 1007 NSDA points. 

The National Speech and Debate Association’s (NSDA) Honor Society recognizes middle and high school students like Levin for their participation in debate. In policy debate, students earn six points for a win, and three for a loss. Over time, you gather points, earning new degrees at certain milestones. 

Levin, having earned 1007 NSDA points, not only obtained the Degree of Outstanding Distinction, but secured her spot as 96th nation. If you average out Levin’s points for each year of high school, that is about 252 points per year! This past year, throughout her 55 debate rounds, she accrued 255 points. This is an outstanding milestone for any debater! 

What does it mean to you to be the 96th debater in the country? It means work.

“It feels amazing to have earned this award,” explains Levin. “I went to every possible tournament, spent countless hours researching, and spent my summers are intense debate camps. Earning this meant having to be flexible, often searching to find a partner,” as well as “missing a lot of school.” 

Along with her outstanding season record, her points put her not just at 96th in the country, but 2nd in the entire state of Missouri, and 1st at the Barstow School. With Levin’s help, this puts Barstow at 37th in school rankings out of all speech and debate activities in Missouri. 

“It feels great to have something I can showcase for an activity I love and put a lot of effort into,” says Levin.

Congratulations to Ava Levin for this amazing achievement, and we wish her the best next year as she continues her debate career at the University of Kansas!