7th graders participated in their first formal debate

On Friday, March 4, 2016, our 7th graders participated in their first formal debate! The debate topic was to argue if Lyddie, the main character in the novel we read, should or should not sign a petition for better working conditions. Each section was broken up into 2 teams making 6 participating teams in total. They worked during their respective class time for roughly 2 weeks preparing for the debate. Each team had an opener, 3 argument leaders, 2 rebuttal leaders, a closer, and at least 2 note takers. The students were required to wear semi-formal attire, and behave according to formal debate standards. The entire debate was a true team effort. All teams worked together in a positive way to argue each side. Our 7th graders were engaged, prepared, and focused on this debate, and we are all very proud of the effort they put into this activity. The debate took place in front of their peers and some special guest teachers, which included our very own principal! We hope that we can expand the debate experience and work on debating other challenging topics in the future.