Meeting every Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 pm, Woodgroves debate club has been in full steam for many years. Debate is a very complex club, with many moving parts.
The first and most important topic to understand about debate are the three main divisions: Public Forum, Congress, and Lincoln Douglas, and what they are all about. Freshman Sammie Repola explained, “ All of them handle different types of debate. Public Forum is debating with a partner, Lincoln Douglas handles moral issues, and Congress passes bills and [delivers] speeches.” Repola continued by elaborating the setup of the debate divisions, stating, “In public forum there’s two partners. Partner one explains their main argument, and partner two pokes holes in their opponent’s argument. Lincoln Douglas is a lot more traditional, one-on-one, and in Congress, the whole room listens, writing down and asking questions,” Repola elaborated.
Participating in debate can provide students with many benefits and skills that can be beneficial in later life and future careers. Repola stated, “It really helps you delve into more research and build persuasive skills. If you are [writing] a persuasive essay for English, it’ll help with that. For a career, it helps you focus and lock onto one thing and put your all into it.” Freshman and member of debate Parker Scott agreed, describing, “If you are going to get a job where you have to write a lot, or you’re going to have to do a lot of public speaking, it can be very helpful.”
Before tournaments, each branch of debate receives a different list of topics that is standardized across all competing teams. A captain of Debate club, junior Mounira Nabassa, elaborated on how topics are chosen, explaining, “They are posted on the [National Speech & Debate Association] website. They change the topic every two months. For Lincoln Douglas we get political and economic topics, for Public Forum, the topic will be one sentence. For Congress, they give you nine topics; three of them are economic, three of them are political, and three of them are social topics.”
One or two captains are selected for each of the three branches of debate, allowing for many leadership positions within the team. “We coach people and teach them how to do our styles of debate and we give them a lot of tips, especially the new members,” Repola explained. Captains set the agenda for each meeting, which typically consists of writing speeches and watching competitions to further develop arguments. Nabassa explained, “Once our cases are done, we compete them against each other so we can practice being in a debate round.”
For anyone who is considering joining debate, Nabassa advises that students “should just go for it—there’s nothing to lose, and it’s really fun.” Debate is a club that may seem very imposing at first, but it is known by many as a very fun and interesting club that allows their public debating skills to develop and flourish.