Today, we began the Institute Debate Tournament. In this tournament, there are no winners or losers - instead, the emphasis is on feedback for all, so everyone can improve. Students had four debates over the course of the day, beginning with two in the morning. During lunch, students were able to take a quick break, much like at a real debate tournament (although realistically, at most debate tournaments competitors spend their time 'off' preparing for the next debate). In the afternoon, students had two more debates. We tried to make sure students had an equal number of debates on the two sides of the topic, so they could show off their research from all perspectives.

Tomorrow, students will have two more debates in the morning. At 2:30pm, two teams will be selected for a final demonstration based on notes instructors have been taking throughout the course of the tournament. Parents are welcome to attend and watch the final debate in the afternoon. To make sure we are out of the high school by the time custodians need us to leave, we will start the debate at 2:45pm. If you would like to come watch your child debate, you are welcome to come in the morning, where we will start the first debate at approximately 9:30am.

At the end of the day today, students were given a t-shirt. We ask that they all wear their shirts tomorrow - we'll wear ours too, in good spirit! Students should still bring their own lunch, but we will also have desserts that we provide to celebrate students' completion of the tournament.

It's hard to believe we're already at the end of the Institute - it feels like just yesterday we were meeting your children and dissecting the basic parts of an argument! We have been so impressed by their skill development over the past two weeks, and are looking forward to seeing where they take these skills - whether in debate, academics, or extracurriculars. If your children or you ever have questions about debate, or high school, or college, or anything else, please do reach out to us at lexdebateinstitute@gmail.com!