MARK YOUR CALENDARS! THREE WEEKS TO OUR FIRST MEETING!
Dear Prospective and Current Debaters and Parents,
I know you're excited about the upcoming school year, especially incoming freshpeople! I hope you're just as eager to come to the Bellingham United Debate Club's first meeting of the season, which will be held Tuesday, September 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the Sehome High School Library.
I hope you enjoyed the information on debate I sent you this summer and that it's made you look forward to learning how to debate and to going to tournaments, as well as making new friends. At this first meeting, we'll talk about tournaments, how the team operates, you can meet many of our wonderful Assistant Coaches and renew the friendships you made at our spring workshops. Please plan to be there on time - early, if you can. I will open the door at 6 PM, so the earlier people can be seated, the faster we can go through the material we need to cover.
For this meeting only, all new, prospective debaters must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. As you learned in our April Open House, parents play an extremely important role in supporting the BUDC. We want to clarify what that entails and how you can help and support your debater. Some of our more experienced parents will be present to help explain things, clarify issues and answer questions.
After this meeting, we will meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 in the Sehome High School Library. At our Thursday, September 7 meeting, we will give you one last opportunity to choose what form of debate you want to do, put you together with partners, introduce you to your new squad and start training you how to debate. Subsequent meetings will involve learning how to debate, how to research, practice debates and lots of time for arguing, opinionated bloviating and other rhetorical excesses!
So, don't miss the fun. Talk this up with your friends and tell them how much fun you had at the Open House and at the workshops. We'd like to have the largest District 1 squad ever this year, with participation from all three high schools.
Before you come, please check out our new, still-in-the-works website, designed by SHS Policy debater Lev Shuster, www.bellinghamdebate.wixsite.com/home and let us know what you think. And, check out some of the articles below to see what makes a good debater:
How to Be a Good Debater: 13 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
How to Be a Good Debater. It doesn't matter whether you're debating from a podium or you're just fighting with your mom at home: a few simple rules apply ...
20 Tips and Suggestions for Being a Good Debater
Novice Debate – All 20 Tips - Handout Page 1 of 5 20 Tips and Suggestions for Being a Good Debater 1. Carry a pen at all times – and write everything down.
So, have a happy rest of your summer and please, join us on Tuesday, September 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM in the SHS Library for your introduction to the most fun activity you'll ever have in high school!
