During a single debate, a 2-3 person team will compete against another 2-3 person team on a given topic. Every team must be prepared to debate both sides of the argument related to the topic because the team will not know which side they will be debating until they arrive at the meet.
The mission of our junior high team is to win, of course, but it is also to prepare debaters to be successful at the high school level as they hopefully go on to compete for Pell City High School next year.
We are looking forward to an exciting year of learning more about debate and growing as a team.
About
“A good leader can engage in a debate frankly and thoroughly, knowing that at the end he and the other side must be closer, and thus emerge stronger. You don't have that idea when you are arrogant, superficial, and uninformed.”
– Nelson Mandela
2015-2016 is the inaugural year for the Pell City Junior High Debate Team. The coach of this year's debate team is Michelle Shelton. Our team is a member of the Birmingham Area Debate League, which is hosted by Samford University. Our team members are students at O.D. Duran Junior High School in Pell City, Alabama.
The style of debate for our league is Lincoln-Douglas. Lincoln-Douglas debates are strictly structured. They are divided into constructions, cross-examinations, and rebuttals, with each side having the same amount of time to build their arguments, tear down the opponents' arguments, and defend themselves against anything that may come their way. There will be one topic for the fall season and one topic for the spring.