Debate is a fun and engaging way to explore issues that directly impact society, while training the brain to listen carefully, an important skill of successful leaders! Debate can be used to develop empathy, understand different perspectives, and navigate differences. The skills learned in debate supplement classroom learning and are applicable to all aspects of education. OSM Debate Club is offered as an extracurricular activity after school and focuses on Policy Debate.
Who can participate?
Debate is open to all 5th – 8th grade students.
Debate Coaches & Sponsors
<To be announced soon!> will be the Debate Head Coach and Assistant coach this year, focusing on Policy debate. They will be working with students at different levels, conduct weekly practices, workshops, and be available for tournaments, and other debate events.
TBD is the Teacher sponsor and liaison this year, acting as a chaperone for the debaters, and collaborating with coaches and students to facilitate practices and providing additional support to debaters when needed.
Nandita Manglavil is a parent sponsor for debate and will be coordinating debate correspondence and supporting debate coaches this year. Nandita is mom to Matty Manglavil (8th grade), Varsity debater and Maya Manglavil (6th grade), Junior Varsity debater. We will also have other parent sponsors/volunteers providing support for the program throughout the year and would love your support and involvement.
Kate Kozlowski is an OSM graduate and a champion debater. She is a Junior at Walter Payton High School. Kate has been an assistant coach helping us throughout the year and at debate camp this year.
Practice Information
Debate Practice sessions will be at OSM on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30pm – 5:00pm, beginning Tuesday, September 10th (Final date to be communicated soon).
Debate runs from September through April.
There will be 4-5 tournaments during the school year that students are expected to participate in. Most of the debate tournaments are in person, but some maybe virtual. There will be plenty of support from coaches, volunteers, and current debaters whether tournaments are virtual or in person.
A State championship is held around March/April (TBD) and is usually by invitation only.
Tournament Information
This year, OSM is partnering with the Chicago Debate League and will be participating in tournaments with schools from that league.
Dates & Times - TBD (will be listed soon)
⦁ Tournament – Date & Location to be shared soon
⦁ Tournament – Date & Location to be shared soon
⦁ Tournament – Date & Location to be shared soon
⦁ Tournament – Date & Location to be shared soon
Tournament Logistics
Tournament Check In is at TBD, and the tournaments typically end at approximately TBD.
Debaters will have access to the coaches and each other to answer questions and provide guidance during breaks during a tournament. Debaters should bring lunch and have snacks and hydration for the day.
An email with more information will be sent out prior to each tournament to confirm attendance. Please respond promptly to the email so that OSM can properly register our debate teams.
Debate tournaments are conducted with teams of two debaters, so it is important that debaters know if their respective debate partners plan to attend the tournament in case debaters need to be assigned different debate partners for a particular tournament.
2024-25 Debate Topic
The topic this year is, “Resolved: The United States federal government should significantly strengthen its protection of domestic intellectual property rights in copyrights, patents, and/or trademarks.”
Debaters will learn to argue both the affirmative and negative for each plan. In past years, the students have debated Cyber security, Artificial Intelligence, Security Cooperation with NATO, Federal Jobs Guarantee, Social Security, Basic Income, Water Resources, Criminal Justice Reform, International Arm Sales, and Immigration, etc.
Student Expectations
⦁ Show up on time, prepared and ready to learn at practice sessions. Debate practice is not the time to do homework or socialize. They will be given a break between end of school and start of the Debate practice session.
⦁ All necessary items for debate will be provided and all students are expected to have these at every practice session and tournament. Debate items include a debate box with core files, highlighters, two different colors of pen and timers, etc.
⦁ Coaches will provide a filing system for all their core files and help them in school.
Parents - Please check with your student if they need help filing or needs to refile to have all documents in order. This is important as they will need the files to be in correct order during debate rounds / scrimmages. Please check the box before each tournament to make sure the files are in order!
⦁ Do homework as assigned by the coaching staff – this will include learning debate rules, speaker responsibilities, flowing the debate rounds, learning the Core Files and participating in practice rounds. Each speaker will have allocated times and will need to practice at home to get the best experience out of each round.
⦁ Coaches will meet and assign partners. We will take students choices into consideration. If someone isn’t working well with their partner, we can address and may reassign another partner. Our goal is to give the kids the best experience and room to grow!
⦁ Regularly check email for announcements and practice assignments.
⦁ Attend all tournaments, if available. Consider the impact to your partner and the team if you miss a tournament. Confirm your attendance two weeks prior to the tournament.
For any debate related questions, contact:
Parent Liaison(s) - Nandita Manglavil (ndasmangs@gmail.com)
Head Coach – TBD
Assistant Coach – TBD
Teacher’s Liaison - TBD