Santee High Debate Team visits Flying Pigeon LA

On Friday, December 4, 2009 the Santee High Debate Team stopped by the Flying Pigeon LA bike shop to say hello.

The debate team was on its way back from a press conference with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa advertising his “green” agenda at Occidental College. The team rode a mix of cargo bicycles and normal bicycles from South Central Los Angeles to North East Los Angeles. One of the riders took a spill, and ended up with a nasty scrape on his right side – but the guy seemed nonplussed about it when we interviewed him.

Ouch! A member of the Santee Global Debate Team shows off his battle wound.

Santee Education Complex’s Global Debate Team is working on two service projects, to compete in the United Nations Foundation’s Global Debates, visiting schools with cargo bikes and gardening supplies. They are doing this to promote two ways of reversing climate change: planting CO2-sequestering organic gardens, with the added advantage of reducing our reliance on trucked and shipped produce; and using alternatives to CO2-emitting cars.

The Santee Global Debate Team has already been among the winners in the past two United Nations Foundation’s Global Debates, and were recently featured in an article by Amina Khan in the LA Times on Novmeber 29, 2009, “School debate winner faces a three-peat challenge”

Santee Debate Team's assortment of cargo bikes stacked up outside Flying Pigeon LA.

If you are a blogger, school, or media outlet and wish to cover the Santee Global Debate Team story, or if you want to ride with us, please call Santee Debate Coaches Amber Young at (310) 256-6267 or Nick Richert at (310) 428-4222, or email livebiketalk@gmail.com

By the way, Santee Debate Team, the offer to use a spare bakfiets cargo bike still stands. Just email me with a way to get the bike to you for your project!