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25% Funded

Only $1,500.00 Needed

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Goal

The goal of the program is to provide students with the critical thinking and communication skill sets needed to actively and effectively engage in the democratic processes of American society. 

Category

School-Wide, Grade-Level, Or Class Events/Programs - Parent Nights, Honor Roll Celebrations, EOY Events, etc. 

What will be done with my students

Immokalee Debate will continue to expand its highly successful program throughout the 2024-2025 school year. This program will consist of classroom instruction, extra-curricular preparation/practice, and participation in local, regional, state-wide, and national debate competition.

Students will learn the fundamentals of the major styles of competitive debate such as Lincoln - Douglas, Public Forum, and Congressional. A select group of students will also be trained in the Public Policy and Great Communicator debate formats as we seek to expand the opportunities for students to develop community leadership skills.

To allow students the opportunity to demonstrate debate skills in a "real world" setting, they will receive instruction in contemporary non-traditional debate formats such as Town Hall, Round Table, and Town Square. Through these training and competition experiences, students will learn to conduct research, think critically, and express their informed viewpoint in a civil manner.

Immokalee debaters will participate in a series of competitions within five different debate leagues and will host monthly tournaments/Debate Institutes in cooperation with our partners Incubate Debate, the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative, the Collier County Public Forum Debate League and the American Speech and Debate Association. In addition, we will host at least one regional invitational tournament promoting the Great Communicator format of debate featured by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
 

Benefits to my students

Participation in competitive debate was chosen as an area to expand due to its direct link to academic success and civic engagement. Robert Litan, a respected economist and public policy analyst, summarizes the benefits to students in his recent book: Resolved - Debate Can Revolutionize Education and Help Save Our Democracy. He posits that when students learn how to research, think logically, speak with civility that they gain the ability to see arguments from multiple perspectives and become better citizens. Litan's view is supported by Beth Eskin, former Director of the Florida Civics and Debate Initiative, when she states that “These [debate] programs help students develop problem solving, communication, teamwork and analytical skills...." Debate has been shown to enhance the probability of future student success for a diverse student population including those whose first language is one other than English as demonstrated in the writings of Bo Seo (2022) a two time World Debate champion. The most compelling and recent research concerning the impact of debate training and competition was conducted by Schueler and Larned (2023). They found that participation in debate had positive effects on high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment, with impacts being largest among students who were lowest achieving prior to joining debate. In addition, Students who participated in debate demonstrated increased academic engagement, motivation, and the developed 21st century learning skills such as time management, critical thinking, and teamwork.  

Budget Narrative

Immokalee High School is a Title 1 School in rural, eastern Collier County serving approximately 2000 students who have great potential, but few material resources. Grant funds would be utilized for the materials necessary for students to learn and practice oral communication skills for debate competitions, travel to various competitions throughout the state and host tournaments at its Innovation Center.

Cost is often an access barrier to student participation in debate training and competition. Funding of this grant will allow Immokalee Debate to provide access for any student in Collier County to access our training institutes and tournaments without cost.  

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