Palo Alto Online Public Forum Debate
Palo Alto Online Public Forum Debate
Please be sure to fill out the emergency contact forms and releases for this class when you sign up!
All practice for this group will be on non-holiday Wednesdays. This is an online practice group that meets on Wednesday from 3:15PM PST to 5:15PM PST.
All of our tournaments will be online this season. Tournament fees are not included in the cost of tuition.
15 Fall Sessions: 8/25, 9/8, 9/15, 9/22, 9/29, 10/6, 10/13, 10/20, 10/27, 11/3, 11/10, 11/17, 12/1, 12/8, & 12/15.
15 Spring Sessions: 1/12, 1/19, 1/28, 2/2, 2/9, 2/16, 2/23, 3/2, 3/9, 3/16, 3/23, 4/13, 4/20, 4/27, & 5/4.
Be sure to check out and complete payment using the icon on the upper right-hand corner of the desktop version or the lower right-hand corner on the mobile version. Please scroll down to view all details, including the upcoming season’s potential topic list!
This is a competition level Public Forum team that is open to any sixth to eighth grade student who can make the course times and is taught by Head Coach Ben Fagan. Registering for the full season before our first session on 8/25 qualifies you for a $200 discount, which is reflected in our pricing. Our first priority is to return to in person teaching as soon as practical, but to protect our students and our staff Stratagem Learning also reserves an unlimited right to return to an online format based on pandemic conditions at any point in the season.
Our custom curriculum works to bring our students to a high level of competency in this challenging debate format. We engage in a six week development cycle, spending the first two weeks of each topic on argumentation and analysis, the second set of two weeks on technique and form, and the final two weeks on full length debates. This way, we cover all the bases that make for a good debater: a thorough understanding of the topic, mastery of the mechanics of the debate, and strong public speaking skills. All students in this class will also have their cases reviewed and extensively commented on by their coach so that they have as much help as possible to perform to the best of their abilities.
Students also have the opportunity to compete in tournaments against other Bay Area teams. These tournaments are very fun and reward the hard work that the students put in on each of our topics. This season we anticipate a combination of online tournaments and in person events, though due to the ongoing crisis we are not yet able to anticipate what that mix will look like. Tournament fees are not included in the cost of this class and must be purchased separately.
Debate topics are chosen by a national committee and change monthly. Past, current, and— for the first time— all potential topics for the season can always be found at speechanddebate.org/topics. The 2021-2022 season’s topics are already up! Our first topic for the Spring term will address engagement with US Drug Policy, and was released on December 1, 2021.