May 15, 2024 At 08:00 AM EDT
The Silicon Valley Urban Debate League (SVUDL) has long been loyal to policy debate, the oldest and most well-known debate format within the United States. While policy debate has been nationally held as the gold standard of debate, the hundred pages of packets and heavily technical aspects of this format have also served as barriers for accessibility.
This changed in December 2023, when SVUDL first opened its doors to the World School Styles debate format. By the time the SVUDL Championship Tournament came in February, there were more students practicing World School Styles than all other debate formats combined, and teachers across districts had begun implementing World School Styles debate within their classrooms.
Unlike other formats, World School Styles resolutions are not decided on a national level. Rather, each tournament features several topics. This makes the otherwise prolific practice of finding and recycling pre-written briefs online impossible. Additionally, World School Styles rounds are scored on a rubric that combines content (40 percent), style (40 percent) and strategy (20 percent).
This ensures real-world speaking skills will be practiced and perfected, rather than lost through gamification. Another unique feature of World School Styles is the "point of information": When a POI is made toward an opposing speaker, this causes a direct interruption within the speech. This forces clash and ensures unpredictable and constant interaction between teams.
"[World Schools] gave a platform to express my feelings and sentiments that may otherwise be shunned, all while building my ability to think on the fly," Noah Perez of James Lick High School in San Jose, California, said. "It gave me a sense of empowerment."
His teammate, Belen Corona, added that, "If it wasn't for World Schools, I wouldn't have stayed in debate."
The spread of World School Styles is not limited to the Bay Area. The Tournament of Champions (TOC), one of the most prestigious tournaments on the national circuit and which is held at the University of Kentucky, premiered its World School Styles league for the first time in history this year.
Jacklyn Nguyen of San Jose's Silver Creek High School first discovered the TOC's historic World Schools premiere while exploring Reddit. From there, she inspired her team to try to make this opportunity possible.
Latino College Prep Academy (LCPA) would soon join them in the pursuit of the TOC. With the help of federal ASSETs funding for after-school programs, the Foundation for Hispanic Education, and months of fundraising, the Silver Creek and LCPA students were able to raise over $10,000 for this once-in-a-lifetime trip to Kentucky.
The teams arrived at the San Jose airport at 4 a.m. on April 19th. The two schools traveled together, dined together and shared in each other's victories and challenges over three days. By the time their journey to the TOC was over, the students were forever transformed.
"The TOC has not only allowed me the opportunity to be part of something bigger than myself, but also allowed me to express my views and showcase my creative thinking skills," Devin Rodriguez of LCPA said. "It was a life-changing experience. To attain what's new, you must venture into the unknown."
World School Styles not only serves as a new pathway into debate, but into freedom and self-expression for all young arguers.
"That's what I love most about World Schools—its applicability to real life. It allows every debater to really show not only their technical debating skills, but also their personality. It's not about constraining yourself to one given idea or system, but rather about making every motion your own," Leonardo de Arruda of Silver Creek High School said.
In the upcoming school year, SVUDL hopes that this investment will help World School Styles reach new heights as it welcomes hundreds of new debaters.
Rachel Zubrin has been a World School Styles debate coach for 6 years. She began her journey into this community through Peace Corps Indonesia in 2016, and she has continued to develop both World Schools teams and leagues for middle school and high school debaters globally! She is currently a Program Specialist at the Silicon Valley Urban Debate League.
