Only in the 9th Grade March Madness History Debate (MMHD) can you find young ‘Iolani freshmen competing to have their historical figure (like Albert Einstein, Muhammad Ali, and even Michael Jackson) be crowned the most impactful figure in the last 150 years. But what is the MMHD? It is a tournament-bracket style debate where pairs of freshmen represent a random historical figure that lived in the past 150 years. Students compete against other teams, arguing and debating their figures’ superior impact, and they are voted for by unbiased peers. In the event of a tie, the teacher is the tiebreaker.
An ‘Iolani History of the Modern World teacher for over two decades, Mr. William
“Kam” Monaco ’87 was inspired by a professional teacher conference on the mainland. Impressed at both student ingenuity and intense debates, he brought this to the ‘Iolani freshmen, creating a fresh escape from exams and homework.
Rounds 1-3 were held in either the teacher’s respective classroom or the Chapel. The finale was held in Seto Hall. The 9th Grade MMHD promotes new atmospheres for old and new students, helping boost confidence, speaking, and even publicity. But which team won for the class of 2028? Well, representing the Cuban rebel Che Guevara, the winners were Tate Uchida ’28 and Shawn Nicolas ’28 (who began to write this story before he knew he would win).
Teachers collaborated, pairing a student potentially from another class in the same period. Like the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament, upsets occured. Freshmen Hudson Goo ’28 and Marcus Nishikiwa ’28 had an “underdog figure” (Catherine Johnson), but managed to debate their way to the finale. The debate’s judge system made sure each student engages and learns, with “losers” becoming judges, brainstorming and asking questions until the grand finale.
Mr. Monaco noted that debates are more of a personal testament of making and executing a convincing argument: “It doesn’t matter which historical figure you get. It matters how well YOU do presenting them. It’s about you, not just your historical figure.” Some previous winning historical figures of the MMHD include Marie Curie, Karl Marx, and Alexander Flemming. The finalist pairs this year were: Vladimir Putin, (Christy Ishida, Anya Teruya), Indira Gandhi (Irena Xu, Maxson Naira), Katherine Johnson (Marcus Nishikawa, Hudson Goo), Woodrow Wilson (Malia Lluen, Rowan Chung), Elvis Presley (Kaya Battad, Brody Taniguchi), Osama Bin Laden (Kayden Phan, Mason Grey Butay) and John Maynard Keynes (Amber Thompson, Jace Ferrer).
Of course, not all freshmen participate, due to extracurricular conflicts, or students not take the competition seriously; simply not trying their best. The students of Mrs. Rhonda Nagao do not participate, as they have their own Cold War debate. The winner of this year’s debate, Tate, noted that working as One Team helped her group win. “I knew that historical underdogs like mine could win, as long as the trust between my partner and I was steel-sharpened.”
The debate is meant to be a fun time for all 9th graders, but it’s also a competition. Students must maintain grace under pressure if they want to reach the 9th Grade MMHD hall of fame.
