By Jacob Fehr

A new extracurricular activity group has started at Lakewood Elementary School: Debate Club. To learn more, the Maple Leaf contacted club organizer and Grade 2 teacher Nicole Skurnac.

Ms. Skurnac started the club in February, “and [it’s] been going strong ever since.” She explained she “wanted a place in the winter/spring months where students could come together and explore different current local/global issues and topics relevant to students’ lives today (i.e., should schools require all students to wear uniforms?).”

“By discussing different topics each week, students in the club are able to improve upon their public speaking, critical thinking, active listening, and team-building skills.”

The club currently has “eight enthusiastic and committed debaters,” six in Grade 4 and two in Grade 5, but is open to all students at the school in Grades 4 to 8. Members meet during students’ first recess break on Thursdays in Lakewood’s Learning Commons.

At the first club meeting, members learned about “proper debate club structure/format,” including “debate terminology and rules.” Since then, they’ve been practicing what they learned in weekly debates.

“Each week, a student from the club will pick our debate topic from the Debate Club Treasure Box that will be discussed [that] week. Students form two teams of three to four… with one side being ‘for the topic’ while the other side is ‘against the topic,’” Ms. Skurnac said.

The teams receive two minutes to brainstorm ideas about their topic before debating. During the debate, both sides take turns presenting their subject, “providing details related to their two main points, providing rebuttals, and wrapping up their argument with a conclusion.” Each debate lasts 20 minutes.

“By going back and forth club members are able to engage in active discussions and get a real-life feel of what a debate looks, sounds and feels like,” she said.

“Students are reminded that they can argue but in a polite way!”

After debates, she gives the teams a score out of five in three categories: communication, organization, and content.

“Overall, students need to bring a love for learning, open-mindedness and active listening skills to each weekly debate!”

Ms. Skurnac said she thinks students in the club are getting a lot out of it.

“Debate Club members love the ability to share their thoughts and perspectives surrounding different global/current issues, develop better public speaking skills, and always have fun interacting with their peers in a critical manner.

“They apply their newfound knowledge/opinions to their home and community lives and even are becoming more in tune to the local newspaper/news.”

She added that by approaching debates “with a critical and open lens,” members learn new things from each other. For example, in debating whether all schools should have uniforms, students learned about school culture and its intersections with personal expression and identity.

As they learn through debating, they’re deepening their understanding of the world and sharpening their critical thinking skills, which helps them make more connections.

“One thing that Debate Club members said was very interesting when debating the topic of [whether] playing video games makes you smarter is the ‘for side’ mentioned how there are educational video games that we play at home/school [such as] Knowledgehook that allow you to enhance your critical thinking skills. This made me see how students are connecting our weekly topics to different platforms/skills they learn in school!”

It makes Ms. Skurnac happy to watch the club’s members grow.

“I have greatly enjoyed coaching Debate Club this year, seeing the club members improve upon their public speaking and arguing skills, and I’m very excited for the final debate club competition.”

For the club’s final competition this year, each member will debate one of their peers on a given topic in the opening round of a one-on-one tournament. Ms. Skurnac will declare a winner of each debate, and they “will advance on to the next round until there is only one debate champion left.”

With the tournament coming in the next few weeks, “the club is winding down” for the end of its first season. But Ms. Skurnac is already thinking about next year.

“One of our goals next year is to expand on members’ debating skills by interacting with other clubs/classes at Lakewood, which will allow members to share their perspectives/ideas with other students at school and grow in becoming social justice advocates.”

Debate Club interviews

The Maple Leaf interviewed four members of Lakewood Elementary’s Debate Club, asking each why they joined, what they like about it, and what they’d like to debate. Their responses revealed that all share an interest in argumentative discussions.

Milo

Q1: Milo, why did you join Debate Club?
A1: “Because I want to be a lawyer.”
Q2: What do you like about the club/debating?
A2: “Because it’s fun and I like to talk with people and to argue.”
Q3: What are you interested in debating?
A3: “Why you should eat tacos everyday.”

Lily

Q1: Lily, why did you join Debate Club?
A1: “Because I wanted to try a new club, and I like debating.”
Q2: What do you like about the club/debating?
A2: “Everything.”
Q3: What are you interested in debating?
A3: “Anything that I think is true; Taylor Swift is the best singer.”

Ronnie

Q1: Ronnie, why did you join Debate Club?
A1: “Because I want to be a lawyer.”
Q2: What do you like about the club/debating?
A2: “Everything. Arguing.”
Q3: What are you interested in debating?
A3: “We should have a bring your pet to school day.”

Madelynn

Q1: Madelynn, why did you join Debate Club?
A1: “I’m not in that many clubs and this is a new club so I wanted to try it, and it’s fun.”
Q2: What do you like about the club/debating?
A2: “I like to listen to everyone else’s ideas about why or why not something should happen. And I like to talk a lot.”
Q3: What are you interested in debating?
A3: “I think the weekend should be five days and the week should be two days.”

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Originally published April 23, 2025