Debate, Debate, Debate: the 3rd Annual Summer Camp Challenges Students to Think Critically and Debate!
From July 30th to August 5th, the BEST Foundation hosted its 3rd Annual Summer Camp aimed at helping students to improve their speech and debate skills. The camp was hosted in the heart of Bankya at Hotel “Zheravna” and hosted 30 students from 12 different cities. The camp was supported by a well-rounded staff of current and former BEST participants, coaches, judges, Management Team members, and teachers, who were able to offer their expertise, professionalism and encouragement.
Throughout the week, the students were challenged by an intensive curriculum, with a heavy focus on the mechanics and strategies of World Schools Debate, in order to introduce them to the world of Debates efficiently and effectively. The morning sessions featured lectures from Camp Director MorganElizabeth Rowe and the students were first introduced to the basics of public speaking and debate, followed by working on the development of more advanced skills, including research-based skills, constructing arguments, effective writing, and proper rebutting. In the afternoons, students put what they have learned into practice by engaging in a series of mini and full-length debates on a wide variety of topics.
Each day, the camp welcomed renowned guest speakers who supplemented the curriculum and offered their expertise. Steven London, the current Editor-in-Chief for the NYC Daily Post and a previous English Language Instructor at the American University in Bulgaria, led a lecture on communicating with people who have different backgrounds and communication styles.
Evgeny Minchev, Head of the Office for Regulatory Affairs for Atos Unify, introduced the campers to the methodology of conducting research in a professional field. Eric Halsey, a historian and creator of the popular podcast “ The Bulgarian History Podcast'' returned to lead a lecture on argument building and communication styles. Billyana Freye, the Co-founder and CEO at Orbiit, a tech startup that uses Artificial Intelligence to facilitate professional networking conversations within groups of people and current BEST Board Member, used her experience to introduce the campers in the use of debate in the bussiness world. Last but not least, Jesse Scinto, Deputy Director of Columbia University’s strategic program, returned for a third year to introduce the students to a very important part of how we communicate, with a lecture on nonverbal communication.
On Friday, all students competed in the camp-wide tournament, debating against one another in relevant topics such as using AI tools for school work and the benefits of two-party systems over multi-party systems. We were happy to be joined by by Rada Kaneva, the Program Officer at the Fulbright Commission and a previous debater, who helped judge during the tournament on Friday, as well as Angela Rodel, the Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission and a BEST Advisory Board Member, who joined us to judge the tournament’s final round on Friday. After the tournament was concluded, students were able to let off some steam and hike across Bankya. The students, who developed close bonds, everlasting friendships and the confidence not only to debate but also to inspire one another throughout the week, took it upon themselves to share memories of their adventure and showed support and respect to their fellow campers well after the official events were concluded.
As reflected by our camper, Nella Fletcher: Participating in the debate summer camp was pure enjoyment. Constructing persuasive arguments and embracing friendly competition made each moment exciting. I'm eagerly waiting for the next opportunity I have to express the thrill of debating