Team Profile - Calverton Middle School

There are dozens of middle schools in Baltimore City, all with their individual programs and activities making them stand out above the rest. One thing that makes Calverton Middle School stand out is its debate team.

Calverton Middle School has had a debate team for over a year now, and is one of the best middle school programs in the city. When you enter a debate practice at Calverton Middle, you see a room full of bright young faces ready to improve their skills as debaters and developing African-Americans. Each of these debaters sees debate as a way of expression and enjoys the challenge it brings. With just two weeks of practice, all new debaters have a complete understanding of the debating curriculum. After their amazing performance at the first tournament at William H. Lemmel Middle School, I am positive that this school is the best to work at for my apprenticeship.

Having only two days of practice per week, the Calverton debate team members develop their own cases and conduct research into each month's topic. During these practices, the students go through the pros and cons of the topic, searching for loopholes in both the case and the resolution. Their practice sessions are something to be admired. Watching over a dozen students go head to head during practice rounds shows their development and dedication to debate.

I am grateful to work with this team and the coaches: Zach Taylor, Ben Gitelson, and Joe Amundson. I feel welcome to work with them and the students for the team's development. The coaches are motivated by not only the team's development but by a personal feeling of development and commitment to debate. The students are strongly motivated by the challenge of debate, winning trophies, and showing teamwork against fellow debaters and team members.

So the next time you pass Calverton Middle School, think about its debate team and what it has done for those students and how it has influenced their lives.