​Summer Camp Descriptions: 

• Beginner Speech and Debate​
  • Who: This camp is for any student beginning their entry into the wonderful world of speech and debate. 
  • Events: Students will explore multiple speech and debate events including: Lincoln-Douglas debate, Parliamentary debate, Congressional Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Oratorical Interpretation, and Expository speaking. 
  • Debate: students will learn the art of debate by learning about logic, argumentation, rebuttal strategy, and analytical reasoning. 
  • Speech: students will spend a significant portion of time training to become powerful orators through verbal drills, exercises, and learning rhetorical strategy
  • Philosophy: Students will spend a quarter of their time mastering foundational philosophy that is used in debate. Authors include John Locke, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Hobbes, Immanuel Kant, John Rawls, and more! Students will explore topics around morality, ethics, government, justice, objectivism, and more! 
  • In class activities include: Lincoln-Douglas debates, congressional debate rounds, SPAR debates, impromptu speaking, case writing, verbal static drills, crystallization drills, rebuttal redo drills, philosophical discussions, and occasional games like: “Debate Baseball”, “Presidential Debates”; “Do I Have a Right?”, and much more!
  • Topics that students will learn about include: public speaking, formal debate, spontaneous debate, impromptu speaking (learn how to give a five minute speech on any topic with only two minutes or preparation), oratory, argumentation, technical writing, research, evidence gathering, persuasion techniques, constitutional principles (all 27 amendments), logic, political philosophy (e.g. John Locke’s social contract theory), morality (e.g. Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative) and ethics (e.g. Aristotle),  theories of justice (e.g. John Rawls’ veil of ignorance theory), current events, democratic theory (e.g. Robert Dah’s five criteria for a democracy), issue selection in debate, writing succinctly, how to deliver closing arguments, cross-examination strategies, case preparation, blocks preparation, etc. 

 

• Experienced Debate
  • Who: Any student with 1 or more years of debate experience. 
  • Lay debate mastery: advanced framework argumentation (value, value criterion), mastery of the contention model, how to defend and refute popular frameworks, argument delivery, argument analysis, strategies that maximize persuasive appeal in front of parent judges, how to write strategic cases for traditional debates, how to give powerful rebuttal speeches, establishing and maintaining room presence
  • Circuit debate arguments: Impact weighing, Link weighing, answering extinction arguments, "tricks", permutations, answering common "Kritiks", consequentialist frameworks, impact weighing abuse scenarios, conditionality, RVIs, topicality, PICs, spreading, debate strategy, critical debate, philosophical framework debate, theory debate, etc. 
  • Future Topic Primers: students will get an overview of all potential topics for the upcoming debate year. This will give them all a jump start on the upcoming debate year so they can spend more time debating and less time working on case development during the school year.
  • We strongly recommend students pair 1 week of this "Experienced Debate" camp with 1 week of our "Advanced Prep Session for the New Topic" 

 

• Elementary Debate (3rd, 4th, 5th)
  • Who: This camp is for any elementary school student in 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade.
  • Topics Students Will Learn About: public speaking, speech, oratory, prepared and spontaneous speeches how to make sound arguments, logic and critical thinking, technical writing, “claim, data, warrant, impact”, introduction to debate, impromptu speaking, the constitution, verbal static, rhetoric, crystallization, how to use analogies in debate, emotive speaking, philosophy, introduction to middle school debate and how to prepare for it, etc. 
  • In-Class Activities, Games, and Exercises Include: delivering spontaneous and prepared speeches, SPAR debates, “Constitutional Convention”, “Debate Baseball, emotive speaking drills, impromptu speaking, mini-debate tournaments in class, crystallization drills, “Taboo Verbal Static”, philosophical discussions (for example: Is it okay to ever tell a lie? Is it your duty to give to charity?), “How Loud Can You Get”, “Running for President”, “Problem-Solution” speeches, “Tongue Twister Fun Speaking Exercise”, “Storytelling Games”,  “Making a Commercial”   

   

• Advanced Prep Sessions for the New Topic​ - LD
  • Students will receive high-octane lectures on the new topic, learn affirmative and negative case positions, develop blocks, learn theory-related arguments for the new topic, develop multiple cases for both sides of the new topic, learn key research areas, and receive a semester's worth of preparation in just a single week. This is the session to enroll in to jumpstart the Fall semester and be tournament ready before the school year even begins. 

 

• Advanced Prep Sessions for the New Topic​ - Public Forum
  • ​Students will receive high-octane lectures on the new topic, learn affirmative and negative case positions, develop blocks,  develop multiple cases for both sides of the new topic, learn key research areas, and receive a semester's worth of preparation in just a single week. This is the session to enroll in to jumpstart the Fall semester and be tournament ready before the school year even begins. 

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• Beginner New Topic Prep Sessions for the New Topic​
  • Beginner students will receive a significant jumpstart on the new topic, learn affirmative and negative case positions, develop blocks, learn theory-related arguments for the new topic, develop multiple cases for both sides of the new topic, learn key research areas, and receive a semester's worth of preparation in just a single week. This is the session to enroll in to jumpstart the Fall semester and be tournament ready before the school year even begins.  

 

• Beginner Speech Only Camp
  • This camp is for beginner students only. They will learn the art of speech. Students will learn how to deliver all kinds of different speeches: prepared speeches, spontaneous speeches, and interpretation-oriented speeches. This class will focus on the following speech events: Oratorical Interpretation, Declamation, Original Oratory, Expository/Informative, and Impromptu. Speech is one of the best parts of the broader "Speech and Debate" world and this camp is 100% dedicated to the fantastic world of Speech. It will be highly enjoyable, deeply informative, and absolutely transferable to the real world. 

 

• Elementary Speech Only Camp
  • This camp is for elementary school (3rd, 4th, 5th) students only. They will learn the art of speech. Students will learn how to deliver all kinds of different speeches: prepared speeches, spontaneous speeches, and interpretation-oriented speeches. This class will focus on the following speech events: Oratorical Interpretation, Declamation, Original Oratory, Expository/Informative, and Impromptu. Speech is one of the best parts of the broader "Speech and Debate" world and this camp is 100% dedicated to the fantastic world of Speech. It will be highly enjoyable, deeply informative, and absolutely transferable to the real world.