11 Reasons Why You Should Choose Virtual Debate Camp This Summer
Summer Camp has changed over the years, especially for middle and high school students. Now, many parents are looking for opportunities that are fun, safe, and will add new skills for life, as well as improve college applications.
Enter the option of Virtual Debate Camp. It’s a great option, because students join from around the globe, and you will get an amazing multicultural experience. You get all the benefits of day camp, delivered virtually, and safely.
We believe strongly in the value of deep, process-driven learning.
Kids are naturally curious. They’re jumping to engage with the complexity that’s all around them. All they need are teachers who believe in their ability to handle challenging subjects and a community of peers who are willing to argue about them. Westfield gives them that chance.
Here are the top 11 reasons why you should choose virtual debate camp this summer:
Learn New Critical Thinking Skills. When you learn debate skills, you are learning great new critical thinking skills. By analyzing a problem, and coming up with a solution for that problem, then debating your solution, as well as debating against a viewpoint. We aren’t going to teach you what to think, but rather how to think through a complex topic, with subtle, nuanced wrinkles, and help you come up with unique solutions.
Respectful Discussion of Difficult Topics. In a world where respectful discussion has become a thing of the past, and discussions on the internet seem to go postal, welcome to a safe environment where you can have and debate difficult topics in a respectful manner. In fact, you may even get to debate against your own viewpoints.
We give students the opportunity and the ability to engage with highly nuanced global issues. Students learn that while simple solutions may seem attractive on the surface, there are many different and delicate facets to a particular situation that may make those simple solutions impractical or impossible to implement.
Improved Public Speaking Skills. When you learn debate skills, you learn and practice extensive public speaking skills. By registering for virtual debate camp, you will be building public speaking skills, and reinforcing them and practicing them.
Many adults struggle with public speaking, and unfortunately, presentations and public speaking are a very real part of many careers.
Students have to give many presentations over their academic careers, with those presentations becoming more complex and elaborate through middle, high school, and college. By improving public speaking skills students benefit tremendously throughout their academic careers. Virtual debate camp can help enhance and improve those public speaking skills.
Develop Skills for Organization and Presentation. Part of debate is putting together presentations- either before the beginning of the debate, or quickly during the event, to counter arguments from the opposing team. Students enrolled in virtual debate camp learn how to organize and present evidence quickly with strict time controls.
Students have to think on their feet, and come up with solutions quickly, then figure out how best to organize and present that information.
There are vast amounts of information presented with debate, and students need to learn how to organize the information so that they can find it again, and reference it as needed within their debates.
Improved Retention of Materials Learned. Some studies suggest that students who participate in Debate actually improve retention of materials that they learn. Students who engage actively with the material presented tend to retain it better.
Improved Listening and Note Taking Skills. In a world where tons of information is constantly being presented to our children, and there is constant pressure to perform better in school, being able to listen and take excellent notes will serve students very well. By learning better note-taking skills, students are better able to keep the information that they need in increasingly competitive and difficult classes. With students taking many AP and advanced classes in high school, they will benefit greatly from better note-taking and listening skills.
Increased Self Confidence. Debate has been shown to give students better self confidence, and give them the ability to work their way through tough situations and learn how to argue your side.
Enhanced Teamwork Skills and Collaboration. Debate competitions involve working with a partner to develop arguments and counter arguments. In order to thrive, and do well in Debate, you have to learn strong, effective teamwork and collaboration skills.
Since the format of Debate is such that you work in teams, then students must work together, pull arguments, and share notes to win their tournaments.
Articulate Your Thoughts. When you attend Virtual Debate Camp, you get to learn how to articulate your thoughts, on a range of different topics, both simple and complex.
Expert Instructors. Our instructors are competitors from Elite US College Teams. The instructors bring a wonderful mix of experience with Debate along with being phenomenal role models for the campers who range in age from 8 to 18.
It’s Fun. Virtual Debate Camp is fun. The vast majority of our campers return year after year, and form a close-knit community. Even students who identify as being shy or introverted get a lot from our camps, because they learn so many great skills, that can be transferred to many different aspects in life.
We are teaching skills, not facts. We are building the next generation of critical thinkers and leaders, who have the ability to forge a deep understanding of critical and deeply and subtly nuanced topics.
Our programming provides students with an intellectual toolbox they’ll use again and again throughout their lives. In our programs, kids engage with an issue from multiple perspectives, do their own research to achieve a close understanding of complex current issues, organize their voice to powerful and persuasive effect and learn to respectfully engage across difference. Westfield students emerge with the abilities they need to engage their world.
Virtual debate camp will provide an engaging and enriching experience for this summer.
Reserve your seat for this summer, before all of our spots are gone.