Overview
Headquarters
Vancouver, BC
Category
Education center
OUR GOAL It is our belief that everyone benefits from debate. For many, the benefits of debate are practical skills like confidence or engaging with global issues, while for some debate is about competing to win debate tournaments – the Vancouver Debate Academy promises to take on anyone who is ready to learn. Our goal is to help kids become sharp thinkers and fearless speakers by providing them rigorous classroom practice and opportunities to compete at challenging competitions. We accommodate high school students at different levels of debating skill by placing them in classes best for their ability – beginner, intermediate, and advanced for regular classes, and a special elite program for the Vancouver Debate Academy’s top debaters. We also have elementary debate classes that we split between beginners and advanced. Classes range from 3 to 8 students while coaches tailor a common curriculum to the needs of each group. In all classes students will be learning basic debate skills, including: ~ Structure – how to organize arguments and speeches ~ Style – presentation, clarity, and holding audience attention ~ Analysis – how to make a strong point ~ Format – the rules of competitive debating ~ Strategy – how to win over a judge with strategy ~ Knowledge – information on global issues, like politics, the legal system, and foreign policy All debate classes at the Vancouver Debate Academy are aiming to send teams to a specific debate tournament as the culmination of a semester’s practice. Debate tournaments are an excellent experience, both for personal skill-building and as an opportunity to win awards. All beginner classes will aim to send teams to local UBC tournaments, while more experienced classes will typically prepare for more challenging tournaments such as qualifiers in Canada or American competitions.
