Hey, Y'all! 
Are you looking for a fun and engaging way for your child to develop critical thinking, public speaking, and confidence? Look no further than my debate camp!

With 15 years of experience training students in debate, I am a college professor whose full-time job is teaching and training in the art of argumentation and debate. I have worked with students from middle school through college ages and have traveled the world to offer up my debate expertise.

The style of debate that I teach is called the British Parliamentary Debate (BP or Worlds). This is the only style of debate that is done all around the world, and it focuses on persuasion and everyday communication styles. This means that not only will your child develop valuable debate skills, but they will also gain useful critical thinking and persuasive speaking skills to take to any interpersonal interaction or job.

I personally believe that debate is only worth doing if your audience can listen and understand the arguments you are trying to construct. That's why I focus on teaching skills that go beyond competitive debates and can be applied in real-life situations. And with my fun and engaging teaching style, your child is sure to enjoy themselves while developing valuable skills.

Sign up for my debate camp today and watch as your child's confidence and communication skills soar!

1. So how will the camp be structured? 

Day One- 
-I will teach the basic level of argument building and the format of BP debate.
-We will have a debate to start the camp to be able to see how we grow by the end of camp. 
 
Day Two-
- I will teach you how to prioritize your arguments in a debate while giving you a checklist of things to think about when you are preparing your speeches.
- We will also learn about how to avoid making bad arguments.
-We will end with debate exercises 

Day Three-
-We will learn how to do proper rebuttal and learn how to respond to your opponent's arguments 
-We will learn more advanced debate strategies and how to position yourself and your arguments to win a debate round. 

Day Four-
--We will work on "what to do when you don't know anything about the debate topic" 
-We will learn how the best ways to write during a debate (flow/notetaking) 
-We will do an activity called  "who speaks next". This activity will have the learners try and juggle all the skills we have been learning into a debate but none of the students know what side they are on or when they will speak. They will just have to be ready for anything. 

Day Five-
-We are going to do 2-3 full debates to help represent a tournament. 

2. What topic will we cover? 
- Each student will get an age-appropriate topic.
-Some topics might include but are not limited to: 
    -Sports 
    -College 
    -School
    -Tech   
    -Pop culture  


3. How will I teach this class? 
- I will use PowerPoint slides and interactive activities along with handouts.

5. What is my teaching style? 
- I have been teaching in college for 10 years and I have been in debate for over 15 so I have learned through experience how to keep debates engaging and empowering for students. I love being positive and upbeat while also offering helpful and meaningful constructive criticism. I also have run debate camps all around the world and have plenty of experience organizing and running camps.

6. How much will learners interact with each other? 
-This will be a highly interactive class and will have students engaging with each other and me often. Students will have to ask each other questions along with also giving speeches and having to respond to what their fellow students are saying in their speeches. 

7. Are there any required experience or knowledge needed? 
- No! This class is open to anyone! Anyone can join the camp regardless of their debate experience.