Debate workshop offers pre-season advice

Later this month, high school and college debate teams will be leveling their best arguments against one another in tournaments throughout the region. But Sept. 6, teams joined forces to swap ideas that will help their programs improve.

"The Hornet Debate Workshop was one of the most successful things I've been involved with since I came to ESU," said ESU Debate Coach Kenneth DeLaughder.

Fourteen schools and 157 students from Winfield to Wyandotte County had the chance to watch ESU students hold a demonstration debate. They also attended a series of lectures on marine environmental protection policy to help them prepare for their own debates.

Emporia High School debate coach Carol Strickland brought ten students: Kelsey Fowler, Corina Nour, Iryna Rebrova, Jake Branson, Natalia Barb, Elizabeth Carr, Zahra Nasr-Azadani, Paul Moser, Teraricka Parks and Harold Vilander.

The coaches held a roundtable discussion on the best ways to manage programs with, sometimes, 30-40 of their school's sharpest students. "They talked about how you keep a team focused. You've got to keep these kinds of debaters constantly challenged."

Coaches discussed ways to recruit and retain top students with sports and other school activities competing for talent.

"At the high school level, the big challenge is convincing parents that debate is important. The students love it, but how do you convince a parent that debate can be more important than basketball to their child?," said DeLaughder.

Some schools hold special events to get parents involved. At Salina Central High School, the debate team challenges parents to debate their own children at family events.

"A lot of these kinds of things are learned on the job. No one teaches you these techniques in school. I think this workshop helped the coaches feel like their not alone inventing things in a vacuum."

The ESU Debate Team plans to follow up its successful workshop with a series of events for high school students throughout the year. DeLaughder says Saturday's workshop highlights the growing popularity of debate in Kansas, at both high school and college levels.

"For some reason, Kansas like to get up in front of people and argue with each other," he said. "There are eight college-level programs in Kansas, including two at community colleges - which is unheard of. We have more collegiate programs than any other state in the country."

The ESU team begins its season Sept. 19 by sending a varsity team to the Walter Ulrich Season Opener tournament at the University of Northern Iowa in Waterloo. A week later, the entire squad will compete at the Mel Moorhouse Debate Tournament at Wichita State University.

The team's topic this season will be the improvement of relations between the U.S. and the European Union, with emphasis on nuclear, environmental, agriculture and genetic policy, as well as the U.S. position on Iraqi reconstruction.

"This is a younger team than we've had in a long time. We only have one senior and two juniors, and the rest are freshmen and sophomores," he said. "However, we were the national junior varsity champions last year. We're a young squad, but a very competitive young squad."

Last Updated July 2, 2007>