From topics such as “should the government raise the minimum wage” and “should abortions be legal nationwide” to lighter hearted topics such as “which way a dog would wear pants” and “is country music good,” the debate club has something for everyone.
Sophomore Ben Wallace has been the vice president of the club for about a year. He said what he enjoys most about debating is how intense it can get.
“I really enjoy the heat of the moment,” Wallace said. “Finding creative ways to debate and finding evidence and researching to support your claim all while collaborating with your teammates is tons of fun.”
The club is always welcoming to new members and wants to give a great experience to anyone interested. It’s a great way to learn life skills such as public speaking and creative writing all while having fun and making friends.
Wallace said anyone interested in joining should listen to the morning announcements on Monday or Tuesday “and come on down.”
“It’s great exercise for your mind,” Wallace said, “and it’s tons of fun to learn new things with others.”
As vice president, Wallace works with the president, publicist, secretary and historian to make executive decisions for the club such as coming up with debate topics in various formats and managing the club with the advisers Ms. Cohen and Ms. Sovas, who both decided to pick up the club after the previous advisor left.
They have helped the club find more structure by introducing the Lincoln Douglas debate style; the style used by colleges and by using it in the club it allows students to put debate clubs on their college and job resumes.
Sovas likes debate club because it teaches students many valuable life skills.
“No matter what job you’re in, you’re going to need to persuade someone of something,” Sovas said. “The better you can be at being clear and specific and thoughtful and getting your point across clearly, the more successful you’re gonna be no matter what job that is.“
Senior Trevor Hatem, president of the club, has been a part of debate club longer than anyone joining his freshman year and he has experienced first hand the skills that can be learned in debate club
“During my freshman year i was a lot more nervous speaking in front of a group,” said Hatem. “As a senior I’m a lot less nervous because i’ve been doing it for so long and I’ve gotten such a better idea of what it feels like”
As president, Hatem handles much of the clubs responsibilities such as running the meetings and making sure everything runs smoothly as well as participating in club reachout fairs and even making the morning announcements for the club. He likes how the club challenges him and provides an “intellectual exercise”
“I’ve been told I have a very argumentative personality so I really like how debate club challenges me because it’s easy to become friends with people who have the same opinions as you,” Hatem said.
On the flipside, Hatem also likes that in debate club you get to see lots of different opinions and viewpoints and even argue things that are opposite of your own opinion.
“It’s like an intellectual exercise and it’s really fun to do that sort of thing,” Hatem said.
Whether it’s learning life skills, having fun, or how good it looks on a resume, there is truly something everyone can get out of Debate Club and students don’t need to worry about anything being expected from them. Students can even watch if they aren’t interested in participating. Adviser Ms. Sovas had this to say to anyone who might be interested in joining:
“It’s definitely worth coming and looking and seeing what’s going on, anyone can come drop by and see what’s going on.”
Sidebox: Debate Club meets every Tuesday after school till 3:15 in room 302.
