Register here! View our schedule here! View our format guide here!
Writopia Lab, Debate Spaces and Debate to Educate will come together on the weekend of January 27th-28th to host an international debate tournament! Our tournament will be practicing an altered version of World School Styles, tailored to suit the needs of junior high and high school students. All debates will be in English. We will be offering both novice and open WSS. Teams are not required to be from the same school. Each team may consist of 3-5 debaters.
* Novice teams must have an average age of under 14 years old. They must be in their first or second year of competitive debate, and they must have competed in no more than 3 tournaments prior to the event. Each speaker may present their case for 3-5 minutes without points being deducted, and they are not required to accept POIs.
* Open teams must have an average age of under 18 years old. Each speaker should speak for 5-7 minutes in order to avoid time penalties. Each speaker is required to accept a minimum of 2 POIs.
The motions for our tournament will be as follows:
This House regrets permissive parenting styles.
–This House would support a media literacy class in public schools.
–This House regrets the rise of the social media “influencer.”
–This House believes that schools should ban violent sports for students in grades K-12.
–This House supports free and open immigration between all countries.
–This House believes that countries should be allowed to colonize the Moon.
–This House believes that universities should offer all students a free year-long study abroad program.
–This House supports reparations for all indigenous peoples displaced by colonization.
–This House would ban zoos.
–This House would allow citizens of any age to vote in elections.
Each round will announce a motion from the list 20-30 minutes in advance, allowing teams to prep. Our goal for this list is to encourage debaters to examine the world around them in a holistic manner by providing a diverse range of topics to prepare for.
The winning team will be provided with an official certificate marking them the champion of the tournament and a shoutout on our website and social media platforms.
Writopia Lab’s mission is to foster joy, literacy, and critical thinking in children and teens from all backgrounds through creative writing. This mission is rooted in our belief that celebrating and sharing stories contributes to the building of stronger, more literate and empathetic young people and societies. Debaters at Writopia Lab work with a set team over the course of the workshop and explore a variety of topics and stances through the use of sparring and gameplay. In addition to providing your writer with crucial debate skills, this workshop strengthens our kids’ and teens’ critical thinking abilities, creativity, confidence and teamwork. Debate Spaces is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that aims to connect communities and empower students through debate. Debate Spaces brings together middle and high school students for extracurricular programming that offers students world-class public speaking and debate training while helping students apply the skills they’re learning to make change in their communities.
Register here! View our schedule here! View our format guide here!