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Debate. Most of us do it every day in our lives, though most do not do it as an organized sport. Yes, I would  ave never thought of debate as a sport, yet it is just as hardcore as any physical one.

STUART — Speaking in front of crowds used to scare the living daylights out of Joseph Smith.

But where the Jensen Beach High sophomore saw a flaw, the school’s debate team coach saw potential.

Southtown Star

Greenberg, now a pre-med student in his junior year at Duke University, said he had his concerns about global issues nurtured while he was on the debate team at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

"Being on the team exposed me to a slew of social issues and what's happening in the world. It cultivated my interests," said Greenberg, who was at the top of H-F's 2007 graduating class.

Suffolk Voice

Through debate leagues, many youths around the country have been given hope for a better future. Debate has helped students prepare for college and the future ahead of them. One local Boston organization helping these youths is the Boston Debate League (BDL), an organization geared toward guiding students to enhance their speaking skills while keeping them off the streets and out of trouble after school hours. Founded in 2005, the BDL has since helped a many students from Boston area public schools prepare for college and to ultimately change their future lives.

Debate teams are expanding in the Boston Public Schools, and new research shows the activity strengthens student performance. Report for BNN News by Shoba Spencer. Aired December 4, 2009.

Denver Post

The Baker Hostetler Debate Classic is a razor-sharp competition featuring students from Denver Public Schools who thrive on uncertainty and go for the kill.

On the afternoon before the debate, students from Martin Luther King Jr. Early College gathered for their last practice in the school library.

By Sophie Gilbert 
from WASHINGTONIAN MAGAZINE, November 2009, pp. 66-67

When Politico ran a front-page story about Austan Goolsbee, the headline was DEBATE CHAMP GOES POPULIST FOR OBAMA'S PLAN. The story noted how "silver-tongued" Goolsbee – recently appointed to the President's Council of Economic Advisers – had been a national debate champion at Yale.

USNWR

There is debate in everyone of these!

With today's economy, college students are more worried than ever about what kind of career awaits them. The best way to increase the odds that the job you'll get won't involve waiting tables or flipping burgers is to get the skills you need while you're still in college. Here are our 11 critical job skills that every college student should master, regardless of his or her ultimate career path:

1. Writing clearly and forcefully. Students often don't recognize how important writing skills are in many professions: Many students, without a trace of shame, proclaim "I can't write" and consistently avoid courses that require them to write papers. But the "I can't write" excuse won't stand you in good stead later when you have to write a strategic plan for your business, create clinic notes in your medical practice, write briefs for your legal case, or pitch your advertising plan in a report to the client. Actively seek out college courses that give you lots of opportunities to write. And use the feedback you get on one writing assignment to improve on the next.

For this group of high school students, there is nothing better than a healthy debate – even if it means taking a side they don’t agree with.

“If there’s a reason to argue, we’ll argue,” said Dillon Wright, a junior at Nashua High School North. “And if everyone picks one side, I’m just going to pick the other side.”

Wright is part of a group of students who have reformed Nashua’s high school debate team, which has been defunct for as long as anyone in the school district can remember. It started this year, with 14 students from both high schools making up the team.

They meet after school twice a week to share their arguments and research, as well as practice their debating skills.

Chicago Tribune

If you ever want to argue politics with Flynn Makuch, be warned: She'll mop the floor with you, and she'll do it without calling you a socialist or a Nazi.

Makuch, 17, is one of the top debaters at Glenbrook North High School, a forensics powerhouse that just finished co-hosting a massive national tournament. She can pile fact upon fact until your creaky claims are rubble. Then she'll turn around and cold-bloodedly refute everything she just said.

Great Falls Tribune

Resolved: Student debaters are the future leaders of the free world.

That point is arguable for many people, but the hundreds of debaters gathered at C.M. Russell High School on Friday would certainly affirm that topic resolution.

Six members (three teams) of the Bainbridge High School (BHS) Debate Team traveled to Houston County High School in Warner-Robins this weekend for a debate tournament.

Fourteen teams competed in four rounds of debate in the Jr. Varsity Bracket debating the National Resolve:  The United States Government should substantially increase its funding of social services for those persons living in poverty in the United States.

RGJ.com

Debate is an extracurricular school activity that could take as much time as an academic subject, but some Reno High School students said it's expanded their minds and helped make their classes and assignments easier.

Resolved: That merit pay based on student achievement should be a significant component of K-12 teacher compensation in United States public schools.

Full article @ Inside Higher Ed

But even more accessible than these pedagogical paradigms and tools is formal debate itself, from policy debate modeled by national championship college and university teams, to Lincoln-Douglas-style debate, and a variety of other formats that have emerged across nations. While I was only a high school debater myself, and I'm now far outside both the high school and collegiate debate “circuits," it is clear to me that if we can train our students – not only our student leaders and teams – in debate, and make it a stronger presence on campuses, we might build a more constructive public discourse with generational change. Anyone can debate – learn to make an argument, marshal evidence, rebut – with some instruction and practice. And these skills, once gained, can be translated into the sorts of forums our students will eventually find themselves in: workplace meetings, the PTA, community organizations, and in some cases, city halls and legislatures. We do not need to train a generation of lawyers, but we do need to train a generation of students who can simulate what attorneys and great debaters do as a matter of course.

Download the release here.

Our free topic analysis is available here.

As we talked about the pros and cons of the various classes, it occurred to me that what I loved most about taking debate was that a debate tournament was not just a place where I could stand up and argue my point of view in a forum where people had to listen, although that was fun. The lasting value was actually in the fact that it forced me to listen to those who saw things differently or even adamantly opposed my view. That was the key to crafting an effective counterpoint.

Cincinatti.com

Civilization, John Ruskin said, is the making of civil persons.

In a world of venomous blogs and catty tweets, this is no small task for parents and schools. Today's young people are not only exposed to rude and crude communication, they have the tools - such as Facebook and texting - to participate in it.

But for decades, one place young Americans learned the skills of civil discourse was in competitive debating. In 1957, 100,000 students were members of the National Forensic League. They took an oath to practice respect and humility. Sometimes entire communities turned out to watch them debate.

A new lecture -- Debating Politics -- by Brian Manuel is available.

Our first topic update of the season is available. It covers many general topic arguments and affirmative and negative cases.

I had sweaty palms, shaking legs and little confidence. Five years ago in fifth grade I was giving a presentation on Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller’s teacher. As I was squeezing my hands underneath a table where nobody could see, I stuttered through the longest five minutes of my life. I told myself was to not screw up or look stupid. I thought that everyone would laugh at me or think that I was boring.

Books

Keith A. Hansen, The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: An Insider's Perspective, Stanford University Press, 2006.

Rebecca Johnson, Unfinished Business: the Negotiation of the CTBT and the End of Nuclear Testing, United Nations, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, April 2009.

 

 

Baltimore Sun

Nikitia Datta, 11, did not know what to expect when she headed to San Antonio late last month for the 2009 Middle School National Debate Championship.

Sure she had practiced for hours each week since September, and she knew that she had a passion for debate - especially the rebuttal - but she was still slightly intimidated by the competition.

Datta, a rising seventh-grader at Lime Kiln Middle, and her partner, Viveka Advani, who just completed eighth grade at Burleigh Manor Middle, quickly got over their initial anxiety and became the first Howard County students to win the competition in its 10-year existence.

The duo won the Public Forum Debate category beating the reigning national champions from Lanier Middle School in Houston to win the title.

"It was exciting," Datta said. "When I went there, I didn't expect to win anything. It was intense. The other team almost knew they were going to win. It was tough to go up against a team that thought they were going to win. But we did our best in the debate."

In addition to the championship team, Howard County students also excelled in the Policy Debate category. Srinidhi Muppalla of Burleigh Manor and Niran Lakhanpal of Clarksville Middle tied for third place with Madeleine Houck of Folly Quarter Middle and Vivian Wang of Burleigh Manor. All just completed eighth grade.

Muppalla was named Top Speaker in the Nation, which was also a first for Howard County. He scored 149 out of a possible 150 points to win the title. Wang finished second; Lakhanpal finished fourth; and Houck finished fifth.

The students all belong to Capitol Debate, a nonprofit based in Ellicott City that coaches students in debate techniques and strategies.

"The national champions and the entire team worked extraordinarily hard," said Ronald Bratt, CEO and founder of Capitol Debate. "They did a lot of work and put a lot of effort into this national championship."

The students were advised by Cayman Giordano, the debate coach at Howard High School who also works at Capitol Debate, and Les Phillips, a coach with Capitol Debate.

Datta, who favors the actual debate over the research and writing aspect of the competition, said she plans to defend her title next year. "It's a lot of fun," she said.

Chicago Tribune

Some high schoolers use free time to goof off with friends, but Brandon McNamara studied tough topics like nuclear war and alternative energy when he was not in the classroom.

McNamara was a member of the Harlan Community Academy's debate team, which meant he often stayed up late doing research on issues like biofuels and global warming, and he and his teammates set up mock debates on weekends so they could practice for tournaments. Because of his dedication and debating skill, McNamara won a full ride to Northwestern University. He's just one example of how participating in debates has helped Chicago Public Schools students excel academically, while also improving their social skills.

"I was never really a good speaker when I was younger, that's how most people are," said McNamara, who joined the team his sophomore year and stayed because of the "real world" experience he gained on the team.

"It makes you want to learn more," he said.

Debate students at Chicago schools participate in Chicago Debate League competitions. Sylvia Nelson, who manages the debate program for the school district -- there are teams at 51 high schools and 9 elementary schools -- said increased awareness of the program helped the Chicago Debate League to grow.

The number of competitive academic debaters in the league grew to more than 1,000 this school year -- a 37 percent increase from a year ago, said Les Lynn, executive director of the Chicago Debate Commission, which gives support to schools with debate teams.

Like McNamara, Halle Apy said she didn't like speaking in front of people before joining the debate team at Walter Payton College Preparatory High School on the Near North Side.

"It's one of the best decisions I made in high school, and I am glad I stuck with it," said Apy, who just finished her junior year.

Apy and teammate Jeremiah Pickert in April took first place at the National Association for the Urban Debate League's high school debate championship in Chicago.

The two are in Birmingham, Ala., competing in the National Forensic League's National Speech Tournament, which ends Friday. The tournament is the originator of the oldest high school debate competition in the country

Pickert, 17, a recent graduate, isn't sure where he will go to college but knows his research and study habits honed by debating will help him to succeed.

"The things you learn in debate spill over," Pickert said.

Research indicates Pickert is likely right. 2004 University of Missouri study found that debating skills have a positive effect on academic performance. And researchers at the University of Michigan are looking at the impact on academics.

Robert Pincham, Harlan's debate coach, says all of his debaters have received college acceptance letters from such schools as the University of Illinois, Howard University and Vanderbilt University.

Jackson Sun

Public speaking ranks high among high schoolers as something they dread.

For some students, they'd rather take a pop quiz than stand before their peers and deliver a speech.

But Madison Academic Magnet High School speech teacher Gwen Penny helps her students conquer their fears and even encourages some to join the school's forensics and debate team.

"I waited until my junior year to take speech (which is a requirement) because I was deathly afraid of public speaking," said Hassie Riddell, 18.

She graduated on May 14 from Madison Academic and plans to study psychology at Lambuth University in the fall.

Riddell likes to compete in the prose category of forensics.

This year she performed a 10-minute excerpt from the novel "Girl, Interrupted."

"You have to capture the conflict in what you're doing," Riddell said.

She hopes to be able to continue forensics while she's in college.

Caitlin Russell, 15, plans to join forensics again as a junior next school year. She prefers to compete in the impromptu speech category.

"You have 30 seconds to pick from three topics, four minutes to write the speech and three minutes to deliver the speech without your notes," Russell said. "I can definitely think better on my feet because of impromptu speaking. You have to practice organization, delivery and having confidence."

During the school year, Penny has students in her forensics and debate course.

But some students can't always fit the class in their schedule because of academic demands, so they practice after school.

More than 30 students were a part of the team during the 2008-09 school year.

The team participated at invitationals at other schools and on the district and state levels.

Madison's team has not joined the National Forensics League to compete on the national level yet; however, Penny's students are angling for the chance.

Penny said she'd like to see other Jackson-Madison County High Schools launch their own forensics and debate teams.

Participating students can select from several categories in which to compete including poetry, impromptu, storytelling, prose, humorous interpretation, dramatic interpretation, television broadcasting and debate.

Sam Bomar, 17, is looking forward to his senior year at Madison and continuing on the team.

Bomar debated several topics during the season including employee benefits and health care.

"We basically had to prepare both sides of an argument, flip a coin, debate it and hope for the best," he said.

Debaters received a new topic on a monthly basis.

Penny taps local resources to help students prepare.

Bomar's mother, who is an attorney, helps the debaters.

Madison's theater teacher, Becky Fly, helps the students with interpretative speeches.

"I like hearing their selections because they have such a variety," Fly said. "It's always fun. It's a lot like theater because it's a personal achievement. It builds self-esteem, and it helps them in job interviews and in dealing with the public."