Statements
Mission
The Nashville Debate League is dedicated providing opportunities for high school students in the Metro Nashville Public Schools District to participate in competitive, research-based policy debate. Our program provides a structure and support for policy debate activities for Nashville's public schools through comprehensive (coach & student) training, personalized coaching assistance, and local opportunities for competition that teach, empower, and equip students with the advocacy skills and life skills necessary to make a meaningful and positive impact in the world.
Background
Since 2010, the Nashville Debate League (NDL) has worked with high schools in the Metro Nashville Public School district to bring policy debate programs to its schools. Policy debate is a research-based, rigorous extracurricular activity that has the potential to change lives. By providing debate training and resources for teachers who serve as debate coaches, the NDL has prepared over 300 students to compete in this challenging activity. At after-school practices and monthly tournaments, NDL students quickly acquire the skills to take charge of their learning, dive deeply into complex issues, become critical thinkers and problem-solvers, and find their voices in a supportive environment. And, our debaters are good at it. Since the league's inception, we have successfully qualified four students each year to attend the National Championship Tournament in major cities, including Washington, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Success in debate extends far beyond tournament competition and into the classroom. Research conducted by the National Association of Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL) found that each semester a student in an urban debate league debates, his/her grades will improve and he/she is more likely to test as college-ready. Furthermore, research indicates that 90% of urban debaters graduate on time and 72% of urban debaters with the highest risk of dropping out also will graduate on time. Equally impressive, the average urban debater will graduate with a GPA of 3.23?a GPA significantly higher than the college readiness benchmark. It is easy to see why nearly 90% of urban debaters enroll in college. Given the proven track record of Urban Debate Leagues across the country and what we've accomplished so far in Nashville, we know the NDL can be as impactful in assisting MNPS with accomplishing its mission to equip students with the skills they need to graduate and succeed in college and beyond. Large-scale education reform is often contentious, expensive and slow. None of these difficulties apply to policy debate. It doesn't require changing a whole school system. It is easily replicable, extremely cost-effective, and based on a model that has worked for over 100 years. Most importantly, there is a wealth of peer-reviewed academic research indicating that policy debate moves the needle on the most important indicators: high school attendance and graduation, literacy skills, standardized test scores, and college readiness.
Impact
Debate positions students to get into college and to succeed when they get there. Across all urban debate leagues (UDLs), 90% of students in debate graduate high school and 75% go on to attend a 4-year college or university. Many of these never imagined going to college before they began debating. When they get to college, debaters are prepared to succeed. Young people who have found their critical voice through debating are armed with intellectual skills and self-confidence that sets them apart from most incoming freshmen. Even better, debate can help young people ease the financial burden of higher education: urban debaters have already received more than $4 million in college scholarships, many specifically granted by college debate teams. Debate strengthens student-teacher relationships. Student debaters are coached by their own teachers. It connects them to their teachers and school in a way that other after school programs do not. This is especially important at a time when budget cuts force most urban schools to eliminate many of their extra-curricular "teams." When students don't identify with their school or teachers as a relevant part of their life, they find other, outside negative influences to establish that identity. This is a substantial reason why so many urban debaters graduate from high school who would otherwise have dropped out. Debate empowers students. Debate is often the first time students feel that they are being asked to participate in their own education. The teacher listens to them. The judges, often college students or business professionals, sit in the back of the room for almost two hours and take notes on what they are saying. It is no surprise that 2/3 of congresspersons at one point were debaters, and debaters are similarly represented at the highest levels of academia, business and law. Debate prepares young people for passionate, informed political participation. Students have plenty of political opinions; the problem lies in connecting these opinions to hard evidence and rigorous proposals for change. Urban debate leagues solve this problem by creating a competitive game in informed policy positions. To win a round of debate, young people have to convince a judge that their plan is better-researched and more effective than any alternative preparation for advocacy in the real world. Indeed, urban debate leagues have repeatedly brought students in front of school boards, city councils, and state and national representatives to test their powers of argumentation on the problems of actual policymaking. Debate nurtures politically engaged young people with both the critical consciousness to analyze the problems of the current system and the rare skills to find new ways forward.
Needs
Our most pressing needs include 1) Executive Director. We have been fortunate to rely on volunteer leadership, but our long-term goals require the leadership of a full-time executive director. Salary/benefits estimated at $75K; 2) Programming. Throughout the school year, we hold tournaments and other events with meals and all needed materials. The annual cost is $40K; 3) Summer Camps/Scholarships. Many debaters at private and suburban schools enjoy the privilege of attending out-of-town university debate camps. To level the playing field, we will offer a free local summer camp to our debaters (approximate cost - $15K) and scholarships to out-of-town university camps at an approximate cost of $60K; 4) Coach Training/Retention. We provide our teacher/coaches with the training and support they need to feel confident leading their teams and continuing to serve year after year. Workshops, materials, and supplemental stipends are projected to cost $20K; and 5) NAUDL Tournament. Each year, we send four debaters and their coaches to the National Championship Tournament held at a prestigious university in rotating major cities. NAUDL generously supplements this cost, but we contribute approximately $5K towards making this once-in-a-lifetime experience possible for our debaters.
CEO Statement
Since becoming involved with the Nashville Debate League in 2010, I have witnessed the miracle of young lives being transformed before my eyes.I can share so many moving stories of MNPS students whose lives changed course when they discovered their voices through debate, but here's the one I believe best exemplifies the power of our programs: When he started high school, Da'Sean, who lived in a foster home, was out of control in class and feeling the pull of gang life outside of class. At the beginning of his sophomore year, he wanted to join the football team, but the coach told him he would have to prove that he could be a responsible and focused student first. When he heard that his school had started a debate team, he asked if he could be a debater. Like the football coach, the debate coach, who had been his freshman English teacher, was skeptical, but he convinced her to give him a chance. Da'Sean immediately became the face of the debate team at his school, and people began to look at him differently. He soon realized that the skills he was using to win debate rounds could be used in the classroom. His grades improved, the football coach invited him to join the team, and his teachers took notice. Before long, he was an AP honors student and a leader among his peers. By his senior year, he was the president of the student body, the winner of Nashville's prestigious Bootstrap Award, and the recipient of a full academic scholarship to a competitive college. He graduated with a degree in Economics in 2017, and the football coach who wasn't sure if he deserved a spot on the team drove several hundred miles to attend his graduation. At the end of his sophomore year, Da'Sean delivered a speech at the Nashville Debate League Summer Institute in which he used his backpack as a metaphor for his life before debate. He held up an old tattered backpack with "THUG NASTY" written on it in permanent marker. He told his audience that he was ashamed for his teachers and peers who now looked up to him to see that backpack. He told us that he saw it as a constant reminder of the direction his life could have taken if he hadn't joined the debate team. At the end of the Summer Institute, Da'Sean's fellow debaters had chipped in to present him with a new backpack. Year after year, Nashville Debate League serves students like Da'Sean and provides them with an empowering, uplifting community that opens doors and changes lives.
Board Chair Statement
Fifteen years ago I naively joined a class called "Argumentation and Debate" and without knowing, it would also make me a member of my college policy debate team. I didn't know it then, but that so-called "accident" would have such a dramatic impact on the rest of my life. I learned to be a better student, graduated as a presidential scholar, went on to earn a master's degree at Pepperdine University, and earned a full scholarship to complete my Ph.D. And in between all that schooling, I pursued a passion for storytelling at some of the nation's most prominent news programs, The Today Show, NBC Network News and CNN to name a few. I still pinch myself sometimes and wonder how I ever got so lucky. Where does a Mexican-American girl like me, born in South Los Angeles to Mexican parents get the confidence to even think she can do any one of these things? The debate team. I found my voice in debate. I learned to see and understand the world from the perspective of high philosophers and some of the greatest thinkers of our time. I learned that I liked to win and in debate that means doing a ton of research and heavy reading. But aside from all of those skills, I also learned a lot about myself. I learned that I was smart, I learned that I had power. I also learned that my brain and my voice were a potent combination that could not only win debates, but do just about anything I set my mind to do. Through debate, I also found my husband, who has made a career as a policy debate coach and is also the reason we moved to Nashville nearly five years ago. He is the varsity debate coach at Montgomery Bell Academy- currently the number 1 ranked policy debate team in the country. Because of the profound impact debate has had on my life, over the last 15 years I have had the privilege of giving back by volunteering with a few urban debate leagues- programs that bring policy debate to urban schools and students that need it most. Through that experience, I learned that debate can be the great equalizer for many children living in poverty. Debate brings hope for a better tomorrow, debate gives purpose and meaning, and debate gives students a taste of a life they never before dreamed for themselves. But most important of all, debate is a safe place, a home, a family. My service to the Nashville Debate League took a dramatic leap forward when I took a position on the education policy team at Conexi?n Am?ricas. There, I work with diverse civil rights and education advocacy organizations who have built a shared policy agenda to address chronic disparities in achievement and opportunities for students of color in the state of Tennessee. My education policy work gave me a new lens to view the work of the Nashville Debate League and magnified a deep urgency to garner support and resources to grow and develop the league to all MNPS high schools.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Secondary & High Schools |
| Secondary Category: | - |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
| TN - Davidson |
