Frequently Asked Questions  

Our class is mainly designed for students from 5th grade to 10th grade. 

However, we are open to students of any grade level. We will adapt our teaching to the age and experience level of the student.

We would prefer registration by July 23rd, as this is the payment deadline for our first class. 

However, we will accept registrations up until the start of the first class on July 1-2th. Keep in mind that if you register or pay after June 23rd, your child may not be placed in the class that they prefer, as we will have a lower capacity for students and less time to determine student placement.

Our program will be structured in three main ways:

1. Group Lectures: All classes get together to hear our instructors give a lecture discussing the fundamentals of debate and what we'll cover in camp.

2. Classes: Student split up into groups of 5-7 (based on experience). They will work with one coach and learn more in-depth knowledge about debate.  

3. Elective Lectures: Different coaches will lecture about different subjects, and students can choose which lecture they want to listen to. 

We will have more and more elective lectures as students improve!

We strongly encourage students to attend all classes to get all the information they need. 

However, we understand that life can get very busy and it might not be possible to attend every class. You will always be able to miss a class and still attend the following classes. If you have chosen the option to pay upfront for all classes, we will send a summary of what we covered during the lesson for every lesson you miss. 

You don't need any prior knowledge! 

We split our classes based on experience level, so for new debaters we'll start from the basics and work our way up. Based on our teaching experience, we've found that new debaters can debate competitively after roughly 30 teaching hours, especially with a high level of practice.

Not at all! Students will be able to choose their own partners during the program. 

Many of our activities, such as group lectures, individual drills and 1-on-1 feedback, also don't require a partner.

Yes and no. We're here to teach debate, but in the process we also want to help kids develop a wide range of skills that can help them with any activity. 

Many of our activities will apply to general public speaking and academic research. We're also open to answering any questions kids have about debate, high school life, college admissions, etc. 

Our goal is to help your student become well-spoken, knowledgeable in world affairs, and a team player. 

For students that want to pursue debate in high school, we also hope to set them up for success on the national debate circuit. The national circuit style of debate can be very different from what they are used to locally. While there aren't many debate opportunities for middle schoolers, we will strive to connect kids with opportunities to enter tournaments during the school year, both online and in-person.