Westfield Debate Team Wants You

WESTFIELD, NJ - Those burgeoning orators, future TED talkers, prospective litigators or whose just looking for a place to hone their argumentative skills are invited to the Westfield Debate Team's recruitment and information session on May 14.

The event is for rising seventh through 12th grade Westfield public school students and will be held from from 7:30 p.m. through 8:30 p.m. at the Westfield High School Student Center.

According to organizers, the award-winning public forum debaters will square off
in a demonstration debate to show potential recruits what competitive academic debate looks like.

Westfield Debate Team Co-Directors Marty Collett and Amisha Mody Mehta will answer
questions, explain team requirements and distribute applications at the event. In addition, Stefan Bauschard, a Westfield Debate Team coach, and coach of many debate teams including Harvard University will be available to answer questions.

According to organizers, competitive debate has been shown to have many benefits, including increased academic performance and civic engagement. Debaters develop their public speaking, research, writing and critical thinking skills. Past topics have included paying college athletes, ending arms sales to Saudi Arabia, moving from the electoral college to a national vote, abolishing the capital gains tax and imposing price controls on pharmaceuticals.

The Westfield Debate Team provides opportunities to compete locally and nationally.
Among its most notable successes are NJSDL State Semifinalists, Georgetown International Semi-Finalists and University of Pennsylvania Quarter-Finalists.

The Westfield Debate Team is a partnership among the Westfield PTC, the Westfield Public Schools and the Westfield Area YMCA.

Those with questions can contact westfielddebateteam@gmail.com

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