The Speech and Debate season may have ended, but heated discussion topics still reign at Powell High School. In Spanish teacher Mr. Brandon Preator’s classroom, a heated debate on several topics took place. 

One of the main conversational topics was “The Hunger Games” characters Gale and Peeta, regarding which one was better. The other main discussion evaluated if the fruit snack brands, Welches and Motts, surpassed one or the other. 

“It all started one day in Spanish class,” sophomore Ava Stearns said. “We were having a discussion about ‘The Hunger Games’ and then Gale versus Peeta came in. There were some heated discussions, but nothing too crazy.” 

Freshman Alex Watts was a participant of these debates. He agreed with the voters that supported the character Gale. Watts had several opinions on the polls including his encouragement for the voting of Mott’s fruit snacks. 

“I was really opinionated about The Hunger Games,” Watts said. “Everyone was saying that Peeta was extremely attractive. But I looked up a picture of Gale, and I thought completely otherwise. I also had an opinion about the one with the fruit snacks. I’m a Mott’s guy.” 

Preator had a similar opinion on the matter. He was amazed by the amount of students that voted for Peeta. 

“It started out as a casual conversation about The Hunger Games,” Preator said. “I was surprised by how many people were so positive for Peeta. I thought that more people would be naturally inclined to side with Gale.”

Several students who voted for Peeta believed that their argument justified their vote. Sophomore Ava Stearns in particular mentions how a discussion of these two characters would be beneficial to the recent poll. 

“I think we should have a debate about Gale versus Peeta,” Stearns said. “All of Mr. Preator’s points were basically useless, and all of our points were so much better. I think we would win this debate in about 30 seconds; there needs to be a little competition.” 

Despite only lasting a few days, the dispute left its mark. These passionate arguments temporarily impacted some student’s relationships with one another. Others felt inspired to expand their knowledge on the recently discussed series “The Hunger Games”. 

“I feel that these polls really made me turn my life around in some ways,” Watts said. “I started reading The Hunger Games, and that increased my mental capabilities. They really got a discussion going, and they destroyed friendships.”

The participants of the discussions eventually reached an understanding once the quarrel had run its course. 

“I think [the debate] got so heated because Mr. Preator stood by his opinion,” Stearns said. “He may be the one who started it, but we finished it.”