Students are introduced to parliamentary debate where they learn critical thinking skills, research competence, reading comprehension, media and argument literacy, evidence evaluation, summarizing and outlining, and public speaking. They will prepare arguments with logical reasoning while evaluating and understanding issues from more than one perspective. Students foster sensitivity to bias, build confidence, and work together. 

The parliamentary form of debate consists of a discussion in which participants articulate, justify, and clarify their positions on an issue. In this informal debate plan, rebuttals attempt to refute statements made by the opposing side. 

Participation on the debate team requires work done outside of school, attending tournaments on 4–6 Saturdays, and weekly meetings once a week after school. Parents may need to pay a tournament fee or volunteer to be a judge. Additional information about expectations and tournament details will be shared with families at one of the first debate team meetings.