Three Rdale seniors qualify for debate national tournament

The Robbinsdale Debate Team, composed of students from Armstrong High School (AHS) and Cooper High School (CHS), has had three students qualify for the 2026 National Speech & Debate Tournament, which will be held June 13-19 in Richmond, Virginia.

From AHS, senior Alison Wandmacher finished with top honors at the district qualifying tournament, sending her to a third consecutive appearance at the national competition. This will be the ninth straight year that AHS is represented.

Wandmacher will be joined by CHS seniors Lily Plahn and Tessa Lenoch for their fourth and second national appearances, respectively. Their combined success continues a five-year streak of CHS students qualifying for the national tournament.

All three seniors compete in Congressional Debate, for which they research policy issues, deliver speeches, and engage in structured debate modeled on the U.S. Congress.