Fairfax Collegiate's new Online Debate League allows your child to have fun and develop the essential skills for success in an increasingly interconnected world. Students learn how to:
The Online Debate League consists of three component programs: free online debate clinics, interactive online debate clubs, and monthly online debate tournaments.
Your child can easily learn how to begin debating and what participating in a team can look like by joining one of our free debate clinics during the week of December 14. These clinics allow students to work with peers in discussing what a debate is and in creating arguments in response to various topics before engaging in a practice debate.
Clinics meet virtually via Zoom and contain up to 12 students each. Sections consist of either students in 4th through 6th grades or in 7th through 9th grades.
To continue building their essential skills, students can register to join a debate club. These clubs contain up to 12 students who work together during four weekly team meetings. As club members, students learn additional relevant debate skills and engage in practice debates with their peers.
After four weeks, students in Online Debate League clubs compete in three-person teams at monthly tournaments which recognize team and individual talent while allowing students to showcase the skills they have developed. Students are given debate topics ahead of time, allowing them to research the issues and deliver high-quality speeches against their opponents.