It has been a great season for Timothy Christian School debate this year! We have fourteen students divided between seven teams and have attended a variety of tournaments already. The students have worked together to create cases on tough topics such as the United Kingdom rejoining the EU, the dangers and benefits of giving the US government access to encrypted communications, and whether the Federal Trade Commission should be given authority over sports gambling.
The students must prepare arguments on both the pro and con side, as during the tournament they will not know their side until fifteen minutes before the round begins. Tournaments typically consist of four debates, each one around an hour pitting a pair from Timothy Christian School against a pair of debaters from another school.
This has been an incredible learning experience for our students, especially as they attended the annual Harvard National Speech & Debate Tournament during President’s Day Weekend. Students and chaperones traveled to Cambridge, Massachusetts for this special event! Our students competed with students from all over the east coast, and beyond! This trip included a tour of Cambridge and the Harvard campus, and allowed the students to not only see the buildings on the outside, but compete in Harvard classrooms.
Sophomore student, Johanna Park, commented on her season so far, “Debate has been really special for me this year because I have never done anything like it! It has taught me to be more outspoken and it has empowered me to be more responsible. Debate has really helped with my speaking abilities, learning to communicate with others, and improving my social skills. It’s been a fun experience for me!”
In March, the students are heading to their last tournament at Newark Tech, and States! It will be an excellent cap-off to what has been a fantastic season. With a ton of new debaters, this has been a year of learning fundamentals and applying them in a very real way during the tournaments. The Debate program teaches argumentation, public speaking, and quick thinking. Students often need to come up with counter-arguments on the spot, a skill that takes practice and training to do well. We are thrilled with the progress of the team this year and looking forward to continuing to expand our program in 2026-2027!