Do you offer financial aid?
WHAT DEBATE FORMATS ARE COVERED IN THIS WORKSHOP?
Project Dialogue is committed to ensuring your child can attend camp regardless of financial barriers. We offer generous financial aid, no questions asked. Simply fill out the registration form and indicate a request for financial assistance, and we will follow up with an email offering several options for financial assistance (we offer a range of scholarships for debate camp, from $100, $250, $400, to full-tuition scholarships). Our staff takes into account students' financial circumstances (for example, household income or any relevant barriers to paying full tuition) to ensure every student is able to access our debate camp. So far, we have provided over $7,500 in scholarships!
While we primarily offer LD & Worlds Debate formats, we believe that a range of debate styles and formats would benefit younger students more by exposing them to a diversity of argumentative perspectives. Therefore, unlike most debate workshops that cater to only one particular format, our instructors use our collective experience across Public Forum, Policy, Lincoln-Douglas, World Schools, Individual Speech Events, and more to create a curriculum that combines the expertise and underlying foundations of multiple debate styles & formats.
Even with separate Lincoln-Douglas and World Schools Debate classes, we encourage cross-format collaboration and learning during office hours or mixed lectures—because the fundamental skills that we teach are applicable to all formats of speech and debate, whether students are writing a persuasive intro in Extemporaneous events or debating at high-calibres in Policy or Public Forum Debate!
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LD AND WORLDS DEBATE?
In short, World Schools debate is an international format that has teams of 3 students debating each other on topics/motions that change every round, while Lincoln-Douglas debate is an American debate format that has individual 1 v 1 debates on a topic that changes every two months. World Schools Debate is widely adopted around the world as a format that has more emphasis on speaking persuasively, researching a wide range of topics, improvising or thinking on the spot, and developing teamwork skills. LD Debate focuses more on efficient argumentation, critical thinking, depth of research, cross-examination & analysis of evidence, and individual sufficiency. You can find a NSDA video introducing World Schools Debate here and a more detailed explanation here. For an introduction to LD Debate format, click here.
WHAT SETS OUR DEBATE WORKSHOP APART?
While our workshop employs top-notch and accessible training pioneered by the USA Debate Team and 5 national champions, our broader mission at Project Dialogue is to go beyond debate instruction and emphasize the fundamental skills of communication at the heart of every competitive activity, academic pursuit, and career pathway. Although many other debate camps simply “teach to the tournament,” our workshops empower students with the lasting impact of debate by developing fundamental research and public speaking skills, in addition to connections with the history of political advocacy advocacy and pride for our respective cultures and identities. Read more about what makes our workshops unique on our Why Project Dialogue Page.
HOW IS OUR WORKSHOP ACCESSIBLE FOR BEGINNER OR INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS?
With instructors who have been accomplished at the early stages of high school, our workshop covers the foundational skills necessary for long-term preparation and competitive success for beginner and intermediate debaters in middle and high school. As recently graduated students and upperclassmen in high school, our staff understands and relates to the struggles of younger students, providing them with a unique preview into the upper echelons of competitive debate and the most recent practices on the national circuit. Though we are successful debaters, national champions, and Team USA members, we are also students ourselves that understand how to provide the best head start and key skills necessary for novices and intermediate debaters to accelerate their growth and success at an early stage.
HOW CAN I PAY TUITION AND SECURE MY SPOT?
For student spots to be secure, the full balance of fees ($550) must be paid by July 1st. To receive $60 off, register at the top of our website and pay the $390 early discount tuition before May 1st. All fees, once paid, are non-refundable. Please be aware if payment is overdue, we will switch your reserved spot with another person on the waitlist.
Payments should be made to Project Dialogue's Venmo Account @projectdialogue. Payments may also be made out to PayPal Account at projectdialogue.debate@gmail.com as a personal payment (you may select "a goods & services" type payment through paypal.me/projectdialogue, but this requires an additional $15 service charge from the buyer).
Considering all our profits are donated to organizations fighting poverty and oppression, we are more than happy to support students by offering scholarships on a financial need basis. Contact us for alternative payment options and financial aid requests.
HOW DOES COVID-19 AFFECT OUR SUMMER DEBATE WORKSHOPS?
Although we usually conduct our summer debate workshop in person, COVID-19 has presented exceptional circumstances and we are excited to embrace the interconnectivity, flexibility, and collaborativity offered by a virtual experience where students from all geographies can attend. The key skills and curriculum taught are not be affected by a virtual experience; our staff instructors have adapted teaching material to an online format and designed hands-on, interactive opportunities through education-standard virtual connectivity software (Google Classroom, Zoom, Dropbox, Kahoot, etc.). Our 2020 workshop was completely online and turned out to be a resounding success!
HOW SHOULD STUDENTS PREPARE FOR THE WORKSHOP?
All workshops will feature optional preparation and curriculum materials at least one week prior to the start of the online workshop. Interested students may view a sampling of prerecorded lectures, notes, and demo debate videos. We will release more details and instructions to registered student later this summer. Until then, students should familiarize themselves with Zoom, Google's Education Suite (Google Classroom, Docs, Meet, etc.), and Microsoft Office.