Contact: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Monday, April 19, 2010

Henry Clay High School is the runner-up in the 2009-2010 Bickel & Brewer/NYU International Public Policy Forum, earning a $3,500 prize.

The team – Athie Livas, Sarah Atkins, Helen Sauer and Neha Ray – was honored April 17 at the awards ceremony at the W Hotel - Union Square in New York. Axel Liimatta, a language arts teacher at Henry Clay, is their coach.

The IPPF is the only international debate contest that gives high school students a chance to participate in written and oral debates on public policy issues.

During the Finals Weekend debates, Henry Clay defeated McNeil High School from Texas in the quarterfinals and Samuel Marsden Collegiate School from New Zealand in the semifinals. Henry Clay then lost to Team Singapore after a 90-minute debate. The judges split, and Singapore got 53 percent of the online votes for a 4-3 decision.

Founded in 2001, the IPPF is available for free to all high schools around the world. The 2009-2010 topic was “Resolved: The United Nations should substantially increase humanitarian assistance for persons living in poverty.” An essay review committee determined the Top 32 teams. Those schools then entered into a single-elimination, written debate tournament, and the competitors were culled to the Sweet Sixteen and then to the Elite Eight.

Those teams won all-expenses-paid trips to the IPPF Finals Weekend in New York, where they supplemented their written scholarship with oral advocacy. Team Singapore received the $10,000 grand prize and the “Bickel & Brewer Cup,” a traveling trophy.