“Debate helps you build confidence and hone critical thinking and communication skills. It also fosters long-lasting friendships.”
Those are the wise words of a nationally ranked high school orator—but they could just as easily be the observation of any person who’s graduated from a Buckley School Executive Seminar.
Satya Khurana is a student at at Charlotte’s North Mecklenburg High School. She began the 2018-2019 school year with the number one ranking as “original orator” from the National Speech and Debate Association.
Top ranked orator Satya Khurana. Photo from Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.
To compete in the category of Original Oratory, students must develop writing, research, and speaking abilities in order to create a 10-minute speech and perform it at competitions.
All those skills, says Satya, have been honed through years on her school debate team.
"It has forced me to look at controversial subjects and question the way our society works," she says. "Speech and debate is so much more than a competition. It's about sharing a passion and helping people see from other perspectives. It's about igniting change through words."
Buckley coach Jana Daley, center, with two champion speakers--her daughters Anna Katherine and Elizabeth.
Our founder Reid Buckley was a champion debater; he believed in debate as a teaching tool, because he'd seen how it helped him build his own speaking skills.
Buckley coach Jana Daley is a high school debate coach, working with young people like Satya. You’ll find her speaking tips drawn from that experience here.
And if you enjoy watching bright adults engage in respectful and lively debate, perhaps you’ll join us as fans of Intelligence Squared. You can find videos of their debates here.
