Three boys, four girls. The contest is gender-specific. That's legal, one official quickly explained. It's also fair, he argued. If the girls competed against the boys at that level, they would blow the boys out of the water.
Girls are so much more mature and articulate at that age.
Debatable gender issues aside, these kids were all good. And if they are, rest assured, the future is brighter than many suggest. The kids spoke evocatively about discrimination, education, the environment, technology. They quoted Albert Einstein, the Talmud. Some rushed their presentations.