The Great Debaters

In Genius Hour today, the Great Debaters tackled the topic of Education Reform & School Integration. Should federal and state policy seek to integrate public schools by race and class as a means of improving academic and social outcomes or should there be a continued post-No Child Left Behind focus on accountability, standardization, and increased funding to low-performing, segregated schools?

The Great Debaters Genius Club met today for the first time! We spent some time getting to know each other and what attracts us to a debate club. Students shared that they love discussing current political and social issues, pop culture, and the problems of inequality in our country. Other students shared that they want to be lawyers or work to reform the criminal justice system. Ambition and intelligence were  not   in short supply at our first meeting. These are impressive young men and women. Then we got to debating! Students researched an affirmative and negative position on the issue of virtual learning during the pandemic. Then w e engaged in a "popcorn debate" where   we went around the group and each student had to argue against the previous student's contention. It was great practice outlining arguments and constructing counterarguments. And lastly, the group came up with tons of great possible names for our blog: "In Purs