When education was turned on its head, Westfield was ready to run with it.
In these strange times we find ourselves called upon to make sacrifices in order to keep one another safe. In spite of the distance between us, we believe that it is more important than ever to come together and to celebrate the ties that bind us.
Westfield has been uniquely positioned to respond to this situation. Both debate and Model U.N. transfer well to virtual platforms, and our instructors already have a lot of experience with remote learning because we have always allowed students to join our classes remotely. In fact, many of our instructors have been teaching fully virtual classes and tutoring remotely for years.
Although virtual learning may not look like the typical vision of an education, it actually affords some incredible opportunities for connecting across time and distance. Now anyone anywhere can take a Westfield class and be welcomed into our community.
140 students from four countries joined in as Westfield hosted one of the first virtual debate tournaments in the country.
In March, Westfield organized community-sourced classes, connecting expert instructors who suddenly found themselves with extra time on their hands to groups of students in need of human connection and intellectual engagement.
In April, we ran one of the very first virtual high school debate tournaments in the country. Our inaugural virtual tournament drew over 140 participants from four countries—something that might never have happened without a virtual platform. We are incredibly grateful to our competitors, judges, coaches, tournament staff, and our very own Ryan Lafferty for making it such a resounding success.
In June, we ran a fully virtual debate and MUN summer camp, replete with daily distinguished speakers and incredible staff. Our campers had a blast—and our teachers did too.
Although classes and competitions don’t look like they used to, Westfield students are still as engaged as ever. So much has changed, but we are constantly seeing new opportunities for connection, involvement, and growth.
So much is happening in our world right now and it is easy to feel frustrated and isolated. Now more than ever it is crucial that kids are given opportunities to productively grapple with the complex and chaotic realities of their world—all in the context of a supportive community setting.
