As an eighth grader, students have the choice of choosing many electives. One of these electives is debate. Debate is a class where students learn how to argue different points in a topic, how to speak in front of a crowd, and how to get facts and use resources. This class is taught by Mr. Beard, who also teaches seventh grade social studies.
In debate, there are teams assigned to certain topics. There are rounds of debates, always having a winner and a loser. The teams are given three days to research their topics. Within those three days, debate students have to write an essay about their topic. Beard said these essays help prepare them for high school debate teams, where the work is harder. These debate teams have three to four people on them. If there is a fourth, they are usually the alternate.
According to Maggie Peterson, 8 this class can really help prepare students for public speaking. Since students usually have to get up and speak in front of a class and debate their topic, it really helps build confidence along with supporting a person's point of view. It really involves a lot of critical thinking, and can help prepare for jobs in the future. Over all debate can be a very beneficial class to take.