Debate Club

Led by World History teacher Mark Thrall, members of the Debate Club meet once a week to research and collaborate. 

“Every year, debate coaches throughout the nation pick a topic,” Thrall said, “And so our team has to prepare for competitions against other schools on that topic.”

Student debaters are given this specific topic and spend months gathering information. During the beginning stages, the team is divided into teams based on if they are arguing positive or negative.

Other than learning basic debating skills and argumentation, students also simulate competitions in the classroom.

“We compete against each other to prepare and then we go to the OK Metro league and compete against other schools and we also go to tournaments from time to time,” Thrall said. 

According to varsity team captain, senior Cody Thornell, getting ready to debate takes time and work before competing. 

“We have a practice every Monday until 4, and then when we get there [to the competitions] we all do some preparation,” Thornell said.

Students debating competitively take turns sharing their point of view and presenting their research and findings to disprove the other side. 

In addition to arguments that members of the negative side come up with on their own, in a competition setting, they can build arguments off of what teammates before them said.

“Usually we will try to build off of each other’s arguments, I go first and then whoever is going next, I’ll kind of set up arguments for them, and then they will also build off of arguments that I’ve built,” Thornell said.

The work isn’t done after a competition, however. The team is able to improve when they reflect upon their performance after competitions.

“Once the season starts it turns into looking at how the judges debated rounds, looking at the notes that [the students have] taken during debates to see how they’ve answered things and how they can answer better,” Thrall said. 

This hard work isn’t just for recognition. When students compete, they can receive plaques, trophies, and for the best of the best, even scholarships. 

“In sports, at the beginning of the year you’re working on drills and basic fundamentals and then when you’re in season you start to scout the other teams and start to prepare for different teams during practice. It’s a lot like that in debate, too,” Thrall said.