The Importance of Debate Nonprofits
In the summer of last year, I first began debating at an online camp. While the lessons helped me succeed later on, I hated the classes and dreaded attending lessons when I got up in the morning. All of the other students there were very knowledgeable in debate, and I barely knew what the word debate meant. At the end of the short week, after competing in my first round, I felt sure that I would never debate again. However, in a few months, I went on to successfully compete through my school.
In the beginning of my freshman year, I reluctantly joined the Speech and Debate club for my friend, who hounded me over joining. The day of my first tournament, I felt nothing less than fear and pressure. My first debate round had been disastrous, and I had dreaded having to go through another experience similar to that. However, that day, I went home with my first trophy, wondering why I’d ever felt terror over debate.
“Ultimately, the underlying reason for a student to fear debate is how they begin with it. A debate program should be suited for the students in a class. A debate program should have lessons similar to that of a student’s level. A debate program should not cause a young child to fear public speaking.”
Over the last few months, as a program management intern at Eloquence Academy, I’ve learned more about what a proper debate academy should entail. There are multiple classes at Eloquence to fit students of all skill levels, whether that be a new debater or a seasoned one. When developing curriculum for programs like Beyond Debate and debate for Spanish-English speakers, it was important for me to include enough detail over all of the different portions of debate, including some that advanced debaters may see as repetitive and unnecessary. When recording lectures, it felt crucial to focus on not only the classically difficult topics, but over the entire lesson as a whole.
Additionally, throughout my internship, I also researched multiple schools and debate programs to bring Eloquence Academy tournaments to. Lastly, I also helped to develop grant plans and social media graphics for the public, including editing photos of students and their names to protect anonymity. These tasks all help Eloquence to properly outreach our programs and ensure that the quality of the debate lessons are no less than exemplary. These debate lessons are focused on protecting students’ opinions and ensuring that they are encouraged to participate in activities and lessons.
Debate programs like Eloquence Academy are necessary for students to feel welcomed into the activity. The feeling for a student to walk into a classroom for their first debate round should be exciting, not terrifying. This means that they must get a proper introduction and continuation to debate that fits their skillset, which must be accommodated by both debate academies and other debate programs.
In conclusion, I no longer feel as light-headed when debating as I did two years ago. Since then, I’ve been able to compete in multiple debate tournaments for Lincoln-Douglas and feel exhilarated after a round. Throughout my time at Eloquence Academy as a program management intern, I’ve been able to help new debaters by developing and recording curriculum, outreaching to schools, and developing fundraising campaigns and social media posts. Eloquence Academy is an online debate program that not only teaches crucial skills to students in debate and the real-world, but helps new debaters feel welcomed into the debate community.
Written by Erika Chiu from San Francisco, California. Erika was a program management intern in Fall 2023 at Eloquence Academy.
