ESHS scores historic win in tourism debate semifinals

Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) recently made history by defeating Knox College from Jamaica with a record-breaking score of 1036 to 996 in the National Tourism Debate semifinals.

The debate — a regional competition — centred on the topic of Artificial Intelligence’s threat to Caribbean cybersecurity.

ESHS, represented by Adrianne Thomas, Naomi Omwufuju, and Kande Richardson, secured their spot in the finals where they will go head-to-head against the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Reflecting on ESHS’ triumph, Omwufuju said, “We knew that we were going against Knox College and we knew that they were the champions from the last debate, so even if we lost, we can still put third place on our resume since there were only three teams left. But then we actually won and we could not hold in our excitement, thankfully our camera was not on so you could not see it on the live stream.”

She added, “Now that we have bested the defending champions, I feel like we can do anything, so imagine what we can do with extra preparation. Look out for ESHS to win the Regional National Tourism Debate.”

In a separate accolade, Adrianne Thomas, a pivotal member of the winning team, was recently named the 2024 British Virgin Islands Junior Ambassador of Tourism. Her outstanding performance also earned her the privilege to represent the BVI at the annual Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress in the Cayman Islands from September 4-6, 2024.