Debate Camp for Beginners

The goals of this class are: 
1. Critical thinking
      - It's important to engage students in areas that they like but also can help hone their critical thinking skills by constructing arguments and having to respond to their fellow classmates.
2. Argumentation building
      - building arguments is foundational for all areas of our lives and learning the steps of how arguments are formed and then practicing those steps is paramount to mastering them. 
3. Listening skills 
      - A large part of the discourse is having to listen and comprehend what others around you are saying and not just waiting to speak next. This debate helps students to focus on listening to respond not just waiting to talk.
4. Improve Public Speaking Skills
      - Debate allows students to work not only on their critical thinking skills but helps to build their confidence with public speaking. 
5. Building a Community  
    - A great part of debate is building a community of people who also enjoy talking and debating. 

Hi, Y'all! 

 I am a Director of Debate and instructor. I start the Debate Society from scratch and over the years it has grown into one of the most well-respected programs in the country. We travel all of the United States and the world for competitions and training. I put everything I have into my students both in the classroom and on my debate team. I love being able to watch students grow, learn and challenge themselves through critical thinking. 

Throughout the years I have helped to run some of the largest debate tournaments in the United States and the World to help promote critical thinking, argumentation building, and public speaking. I was recently the first woman to ever host the United States University Debating Championship which is the largest debating competition in the country.  

In debate we cover every kind of topic you can think of and help students learn how to communicate effectively, respectfully, and with objective information. I have led countless workshops on how to communicate about difficult topics such as gender, racial, social-economic, and cultural issues. These topics are difficult and complex but can and should be talked about so that students can start to learn and talk about these issues.  

Below is a list of what I do as a current debate coach and some lists of accomplishments along with the places I have been invited to as a trainer to help promote and develop debate. 


Personal Debate Awards and Accomplishments  

 Achievement 
Convener of United States University Debating Championship 			2019  Clemson University 
This is the largest debate tournament in the country and I won a bid to allow. 
The first female to ever convene the national championship. 

Chief Adjudicator for the United States University Debating Championship    2017 Denver, Colorado. 
		This is the largest debate tournament in the country. I was elected to assist in 
 		running this prestigious event by my peers at the 2016 National Tournament.  

Judged the final of the United States University Debating Championship 
Anchorage, Alaska 2015 
Atlanta, Georgia 2016 
Denver, Colorado 2017
Chief Adjudicator of Vanderbilt University 2020 
	Nashville, Tennessee 
Chief Adjudicator United States Air Force Academy 2019
	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Chief Adjudicator Herstory Womxn 2019 
	La Verne, California 
Chief Adjudicator Huber Debate 2018 
	Burlington, Vermont
Chief Adjudicator for the Pan American Championships 2017
	Montego Bay, Jamaica 
Chief Adjudicator for University of North Georgia 2016
	Oakwood, Georgia 
Broke as a judge at over 30 tournaments
	Breaking at a tournament as a judge means you are recognized as one of the best
 	judges at the tournament.  

Invited Debate Training 
North American Debate Academy 					August 2013, 2014 
Burlington, Vermont 
International Debate Academy in Slovenia 		        November 2013-2017
 Ljubljana, Slovenia 
Southern Debate Academy						August 2015 
Clemson, South Carolina. 
Jamaican Association for Debating and Empowerment March 2016 
Kingston, Jamaica 
Beihang World Debate Academy, 					August 2016, 2017, 2018 
Beijing, China 

Courses Taught at Debate Academy 
•	Points of Information beginner and advanced 
•	First Principles 
•	Back half teams 
•	Opening teams 
•	What judges look for
•	Motion Analysis
•	Prep Time 
•	Winning from Opening Government
•	What to do when you don’t know anything about the topic
•	Debating Religion
•	Debating Pop Culture
•	Why Beyoncé runs the world (Parasocial relationships)

There will be no formal homework but students can look up information on their own. 

6 hours 15 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 0 - 1 hours per week outside of class.