DEBATE-KANSAS CITY

DEBATE-Kansas City (DKC) is an educational partnership that brings co-curricular debate and public policy discourse to middle & high school students. Debate uses competition to develop performance and public speaking skills. More significantly, debate increases reading scores and improves critical thinking. A peer-reviewed study of the Chicago Debate League suggests that African American male students raised their GPAs by 50% of a letter grade, were 70% more likely to graduate from high school than non-debating peers, 70% more likely to reach the ACT College Ready benchmark in reading and twice as likely to reach the college ready benchmark in English. Critical thinking and knowledge of public policy issues are key ingredients in the democratic process and life success. DKC supports students, coaches and members of the community in expanding their horizons through critical thinking and argument. Since 1998 DKC has provided thousands of students the opportunity to learn and grow by participating in academic debate. DEBATE-Kansas City has served over 400 active students in 2020. DKC held 12 tournaments, two student workshops, four coach professional development trainings, a summer camp for students and coaches, as well as hosted several public debates. Additionally, DKC provided students substantial research support, on-site visits and mentoring from DKC graduates and college debaters. DKC also engages and activates hundreds of volunteers in the community to judge at our tournaments and mentor in our schools. DKC membership continued to be strong with 40+ active schools from every corner of the city. Through renewed support from KCPS, DKC has sustained a strong push to add an additional schools and hundreds of participants in the coming year. DKC is one of the nation's oldest and largest urban debate leagues. DKC routinely excels at the Urban Debate National Tournament each year, with students winning multiple awards against the very best in the country. No other organization in the region offers more opportunities for young people to engage academic and civically important issues. One unique aspect of the DKC program is how it serves students from sixth grade to college graduation. A student can literally grow up with DKC. In addition to its regular middle and high school services, DKC provides opportunities for local college students to act as mentors to DKC students via our coaching connections program. DKC is also instrumental in connecting our students to scholarships and college opportunities across the country.