With COVID-19 having shut down most extracurricular activities, students across the world have been stuck home with little to do. Fortunately, to help young debaters and public speakers continue to pursue their passion for public speaking, four experienced high school students decided to lend a helping hand.

The 2020 Debate Summer Camp is a free online debate camp designed to teach valuable debate skills to both beginners and intermediate students who wish to continue practicing their public speaking and debate skills over the summer! To ensure a safe environment for all students, the camp will take place on Discord on August 30th-31st, 1:00pm ~ 3:30pm. The Summer Camp was created and will be taught by four student instructors.

Meet the Instructors
Alex Logan
The camp’s first instructor is Alex Logan, a grade 11 student at Burnaby North Secondary School. Alex started debating after his mom forced him into it in grade 6. Whenever he had to give a speech, Alex’s knees would quiver and he would get tense and nervous. But after a couple debate classes, he became a confident public speaker accompanied by his high pitched prepubescent voice and oversized suit. He’s learned valuable critical thinking and public speaking skills, gained comprehensive knowledge of world issues, and made meaningful connections with people from all corners of the globe.

Alongside Annie, he is the reigning junior provincial and British Parliamentary national champion placing 2nd and 3rd best speaker respectively. He and Annie were also the runner-up at Oxford University’s International Competition for Young Debaters, Alex ranking 4th best speaker. In addition, he was the top speaker and finalist in the senior category at the UBC Spring High School tournament, one of the largest tournaments in BC. Recently, Alex was the 4th best speaker at the Vancouver World Schools Debating Championships, an international tournament featuring teams from 26 different nations. Alex’s extensive experience with debate has earned him a spot to try out for the Canadian national debate team next week. Alex is super excited to teach you all!

Annie Lu
The second instructor, Annie Lu, is a junior at Burnaby North Secondary. Ever since being introduced to debate by her classmates in grade 8, Annie fell in love with the activity. She particularly appreciates being able to learn about a vast array of topics and applying debate skills to everyday life; from writing essays to convincing her parents, debate has allowed her to be persuasive. Being a particularly chatty person, Annie believes debate gives her a guaranteed platform for her voice to be heard and meaningfully engaged with. She enjoys debating so much, it has inspired her to study law or international relations after highschool. Annie cannot wait to teach you soon!

Over the past 2 years of debating, Annie has competed at local, national and international tournaments. At her first-ever debate competition, BP Provincial Qualifiers, Annie placed within the top 10 speakers! Most notably, Annie has won BC Debate Provincials and Canadian BP Nationals alongside Alex. Annie’s team made the grand finals of the International Debating Competition for Young Debaters, held annually by Oxford University, and placed as the 4th best speaker individually. Recently at SWSDC, a tournament attended by top national teams from across the globe, Annie and her team became the champions in the silver category.

Sean Oh
The third instructor is Sean Oh, a grade 11 student. From a young age, Sean had a passion for public speaking and debate. Through debate, Sean has been able to develop important friendships with students across Canada, learn about a variety of fascinating topics and currents and enhance his critical thinking skills. He especially enjoys the excitement of attending tournaments and the exhilarating feeling he gets before giving a speech. Sean is incredibly thrilled to be able to share his passion with other students!

Over the past 2 years, Sean has attended numerous debate tournaments. After success at both regionals and provincials, Sean went on to Junior National Championships where he placed within the top 10 individual speakers. Sean has placed 7th at UBC Falls with Annie as a team and has placed within the top 10 individual speakers at UBC Springs, one of the largest tournaments in BC! Internationally, Sean was the quarterfinalist and also placed in the top ten individual speakers at Oldham Cup 2020, an international tournament held in Singapore. Recently at SWSDC, a tournament attended by national teams from Mexico, Canada, Taiwan and more, Sean, alongside Annie and Jesse, was the champion team in the silver category.

Jesse Liu
Meet our last instructor for Burnaby Debate Camp, Jesse Liu. Jesse developed a passion for public speaking when he qualified for a public speaking contest in elementary school. Jesse loves learning about current events and how it affects the world around us. He believes that debate has not only helped him in debate itself, but in all the activities around him. He shows a passion for economics and how it affects the stock market, and has gotten career opportunities such as a job and internship due to learning debate. Jesse is also very appreciative of the opportunities.

Over the past 2 years, Jesse has attended numerous debate tournaments at a local, provincial and international level. Jesse placed 1st speaker and won regionals, placed second as a junior team in provincials, and broke to quarter finals and grand finals at nationals twice with Alex. Jesse has also found success at competitive local tournaments at UBC, he placed 3rd as a team, moreover, he recently lost in a close grand finals and placed 2nd as a team and 7th individual speaker. Recently at Saskatchewan World Debate Championships, a tournament attended by national teams from Mexico, Canada, Taiwan and more, Jesse, alongside Annie and Sean, were crowned champions in the silver category.

A Guide to Debate by the Instructors at Burnaby Summer Debate Camp
What is Debate?
Debate is defined as an act of formal disagreement, commonly seen on presidential or youtube debates online. However, to a competitive debater, debating is far more than angrily yelling at your opponents. Debating can be precisely formulating the perfect speech to deliver at competitions, passionately vocalizing your opinions and analyzing world issues from multiple perspectives.

Why Do We Debate?
We all participate in debate simply because we like to. The rewarding feeling after presenting a powerful argument, the meaningful relationships we are able to build with people from across the world and even the nervousness before a big competition are just some reasons why we enjoy debating.

How Will Debate Help You?
Debate has taught us countless transferable skills. We are smarter critical thinkers, more persuasive communicators and more confident students all due to debating. We also gained a plethora of knowledge on current events- ask any one of us about Turkey’s current political climate or the US military’s impact and we will have answers. Debating affects every person uniquely, but we can say for certain that it will benefit your life.

What is Our Mission?
We understand that there are various barriers for many people to join the debate community. Don’t worry about high costs or an intimidating front at our camp! We designed this camp specifically to help beginners ease into the debate world. We will do our best to accommodate your needs and help you enhance your skills.

Students' Perspectives
In times of isolation, students can lose motivation to pursue their passions through extracurricular activities. It’s important for students to connect even online to share our passions and continue to improve our skills in various activities and fields. By spreading information about different programs and initiatives that students have organized, students across the world can connect and grow through development of important skills such as debating!