Chicago Debate Commission

Programs: The chicago debate commission accomplishments in fy17 include the following:the chicago debate commission ran the chicago debate league and chicago middle school debate league for 1,200 chicago students from 60 schools, trained 110 teachers and coaches to coach debate, and ran a total of 32 tournaments including the special tournaments described below. Coach professional development and support - our staff supported approximately 110 coaches by providing professional development workshops and seminars, print and electronic resources, site visits, one-on-one consultations and advice. Expanding opportunities initiative - this program provided incentives to high poverty schools (80% or greater title i students) with the purpose of increasing participation of the most at risk students. Regular tournaments - our staff planned, managed, and led 28 regular season tournaments for seven conferences. For high school, each conference participated in five tournaments culminating in a conference championship, then came together for the culminating chicago debate championship, where hundreds of debaters who qualified for the event through competitive success at previous events engaged in the competitive policy debate to earn the title of chicago debate champion. For middle school, each conference participated in five tournaments, the last of which was the chicago middle school debate championship. Invitational tournaments - cdc staff planned, managed and led four invitational tournaments, including:>>junior varsity invitational - this event brought together the top first year debaters from across the cdl conferences to compete in debate at a local law firm. The purpose of the event was to expose the debaters to the legal atmosphere and encourage them to continue with the activity of debate. >>urban debate nationals qualifier - provides the top teams an opportunity to earn an invite to the naudl urban debate nationals. >>the fall invitational - brings together 40 students to compete in a corporate setting. >>public debates on financial literacy - for 20 top students, a competition in a corporate setting on financial literacy issues. Judge staffing and training - recruited and trained high quality judges to further the quality of the student debate experience. Summer debate workshop - provided a two-week training to approximately 90 middle school and high school students.