In January, the debate club, where students get to discuss various topics, was introduced.

The debate club was founded by junior Ansley Bishop,  who has had a passion for debate since middle school with the help of junior Catie Reed.

“I came up with the idea since I have always loved debating ever since I did some in middle school,” Bishop said. “I did mock trial for three years, but it wasn’t the same, so I decided to reach out and start making a debate club.”

Now, the club meets every other Tuesday to either prepare for a debate or to have one. Some weeks, the students that attend will decide on a topic together and do research on that topic, preparing a debate. Then the following week, the students will split up into teams and debate the topic that they had researched two weeks before. 

“We discuss a ton of activities at debate club, literally everything,” Bishop said. “If someone has a topic they want to debate, we will make it the focus for that month.”

The club has discussed whether or not clowns are scary and the legality of zoos, but Bishop hopes to discuss more of a variety of topics once the club grows.

“As the club develops, the goal is to get a mixture of both [light-hearted and serious topics],” Bishop said.

So far, Reed is happy with the club environment because it gives everyone a chance to work on their debate skills.

“I think it’s a great, not stressful way to develop my speaking skills and leadership skills,” Reed said.

Mr. Kaleb Schlatter, English teacher and moderator of the debate club, is glad that the small group of students that come to the meetings are having fun and hopes that the club will still be around for next year.

“The students who attend [debate club] really enjoy it,” Schlatter said. “It would be lovely for it to continue and grow. Even though the debate club is a smaller group, it is not unexciting or unsuccessful.”

The students and teachers involved with the debate club hope that more students will continue to think of it as a fun way to discuss different topics and to learn various debate skills.