Debate Program Highlights
Division-Wide Tournament
Students put their skills into action competing in the end-of-summer Debate Tournament. After days of finalizing arguments and evidence, students compete in teams of 2: giving constructive speeches, rebuttals, and cross-examinations each round, until a winning team is chosen. The tournament expands students' engagement with the year's topic, and they return to school ready to compete.
Testimonials
"The NHSI Debate Institute helped me grow exponentially as a debater, writer, and overall speaker. I made some amazing friends and learned skills that I will use for the rest of my life." - 2025 Cherub
"I feel incredibly well prepared for the debate season, which was my initial goal. I also learned a number of new debate techniques and arguments. But beyond that, I met people who think like I do and made a number of new friends." - 2025 Cherub
“I loved the camp environment overall, the instructors were all very dedicated to meeting the needs of the students and giving us the best experience possible while still maintaining the competitiveness of debate.” - 2024 Cherub
“I believe this camp helped me a lot to grow as a debater. I am used to debating in CDL, which is less structured. I have debated against teams with a better structure and lost. I wanted to improve but didn't know how. Now I am more confident and can get back and help my team improve so we can all hopefully perform better and go to more tournaments.” - 2024 Cherub
“I thought the best feature of [the Debate Institute] was the cooperative framework the lab leaders fostered. We weren’t here to duke it out with each other, but to learn, practice, and help one another.” - 2023 Cherub
Snapshots
