12th Annual Matthew Harris Ornstein Summer Debate Institute Wraps Up Bigger, Better Than Ever!
I still slip up and say things like, after a decade, or in the last ten years….but I need to start saying twelve!
This year, we celebrated the 12th(!) Anniversary of the Matthew Harris Ornstein Summer Debate Institute. As always, the program is not possible without an incredible partnership with the Matthew Harris Ornstein Memorial Foundation, a community of engaged alumni that make up most of our instructors these days, and a great host partner at DC Bilingual School.
This year, we had 296(!) students this year, 24 more than we had last year, and our average daily attendance rising 5%.
We’d like to first share many thanks to DC Bilingual for being a wonderful host these last five years. While we moved around more than years past, y’all have been excellent partners that we truly appreciate.
This year, students wrestle with one of the core issues facing Americans today – the cost of health care. It is at the center of most political conversations (Medicare for All, prescription drug costs, etc.) but it is also at the heart of many family’s financial conversations. How do I make sure my family can afford necessary care when something bad happens?
We couldn’t have done it without a star studded array of guest speakers, including:
- Rachel Weiss, Head of Global Public Policy, Cigna Group
- Alex Pappas, Attorney specializing in Insurance, Hunton&Kurth
- Dr. Allison Achenza, (Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine)
- Matt Rose, Director of Public Policy and Government Affairs, TruEvolution / Head of Gov. Affairs, Human Rights Campaign
- Sara Sanchez, Director of Programming, National Association of Urban Debate Leagues
What was new this year?
We’re always trying new things, testing ideas from coaches, students, staff, and alumni and looking for the best balance of activities to fit that year’s topic.
1. Much Bigger Than Usual!
(See Above)
2. Creative Argumentation
We adjusted our curriculum, not providing any sample cases and encouraging students to have more ownership over their argumentation. It made a big difference, with a wide range of creative cases coming from our advanced students, and diverse takes on our sample cases from the less experienced ones. Some teams even played with the form of their arguments, testing the boundaries of what an argument looks like and questioning how we learn and grow from debate.
Special shout outs:
- To Liv Birnstad, stepping into the Asst. Summer Camp Director role;
- To all of the parent volunteers for their irreplaceable partnership and assistance, especially Matt Morrison and Emily Ekle for leading our Parent Orientation;
- To Williams Connolly and The Asia Group Foundation for their incredibly generous donations of printed materials;
- To Dr. Frank Izarry (Suffolk University), Dr. Michael Harrington (Towson University), Dr. Omar Price (Alamaba A&M University), Niko Sims (University of North Texas), Forest Gertin (Georgetown), Noah Smith (Morehouse), and Liv Birnstad (Harvard) for joining us for a great college panel;
- To Will Baker for coming down from New York, judging a few rounds, and sharing a rousing call to keep debating to our new recruits!
Join us during the season to see debate worthy of (and always more substantive than that occurring downtown) the nation’s capital.
Keep an eye out for emails about coaching and judging opportunities, school starts in a few weeks!
