St. John's Debate Team

Moderators: Mr. Russell McClintock and Mrs. Joanne Diaz

Team Captains: Dan Powers '10 and Jim Peterson '10

Practices and Meetings: Room 410, times TBA

     At practices, which are held twice a week, novices (beginning debaters) will learn the format and techniques of Policy Debate and will gain experience in research, speaking, and making sound, effective arguments.  These are skills that will help build your confidence in public speaking, bring you greater success in school by improving your ability to write, and help you to run circles around your friends in arguments.  Also, because policy debate is done in teams of two, debating will help you to learn how to get along with a partner and work as a team. 

    Debaters compete in several local (and if they work hard and do well, national) competitions.  Most tournaments are overnight affairs, which are a lot of fun and allow you to make friends and connections well beyond St. John's.  

    Debate is a lot of fun, but it is also a challenging and competitive activity that requires work and commitment.  As in sports, team members will be required to attend meetings and do the kind of work that makes them a worthy partner.  Your success is directly connected to the time and you put in. 

Tournament Schedule

    Debate tournaments tend to run from late September to early April, with the busiest times in October/November and January/February.  Tournament organizers don't tend to be the greatest planners or communicators, so it's usually several weeks into the school year before we have a reasonable idea of our schedule, and there is always the possibility of additions or subtractions as the year progresses.  

    The following is this year's tournament schedule. (Not all dates have been confirmed.)

Bronx Science Invitational, New York City      Fri-Sun, Oct. 16-18
        [Two teams, varsity only]

Manchester Invitational, Manchester, MA       Fri-Sat, Oct. 30-31
        [Four varsity and four novice teams]

Little Lexington, Lexington, MA                      Sat, Nov. 21
         [Four varsity and four novice teams]

Lexington Winter Invitational, Lexington, MA  Sat-Mon, Jan. 16-18 
        [Four varsity and four novice teams]

Little Manchester, Manchester, MA                 Sat, Jan. 30
        [Novice only]

Harvard Invitational                                    Sat-Mon, Feb. 13-15
        [Four teams, varsity only]

Lakeland Invitational, Shrub Oaks, NY            Fri-Sun, Feb. 26-28
        [Two teams, varsity only]

State Championship Debate, Danvers            Sat, March 28 
        [All who qualify]