Representing an opinion convincingly, listening to each other, and remaining fair and objective

that was impressively demonstrated by all participants of this year’s "Jugend debattiert" 9th-grade competition on January 23, 2026, and the listening students from grade 8 showed through their attention and recognition at the end of the debate that these democratic values are highly regarded at GyRa. 

At 10 a.m. eight semi-finalists started the preliminary debates on the topic "Should the sale of energy drinks to adolescents under 16 be prohibited?" The jury, consisting of six students from grades 10 and 11 as well as Mrs. Eckholt and Mrs. Mink, deliberated after the debates according to the criteria subject knowledge, ability to speak, persuasiveness, and expressiveness and nominated four girls to the school final. 

From 12 p.m. they exchanged in the atrium in a verbally lively, multi-faceted exchange on the question of whether all students and teachers at GyRa should be obligated to participate in two extracurricular events per year. 

The jury awarded Johanna (9a) as the school winner after thorough deliberation and Nathalie (9b) as the runner-up. The two will represent Gymnasium Rahlstedt at the regional final for age group 1 in February. 

Congratulations!