(read the full press release announcement)
This national educational program for middle school students in grades 6, 7 and 8, established by The ESU and ALOUD, showcases debate communities where the ESU has a presence. Four ESU Branches are leading iniitiatives:
Sandhills/Pinehurst (Moore County, North Carolina), Columbus (Ohio), Cleveland (Ohio) and Kentucky. The ESU will also assist with existing ALOUD debate program development efforts in New York City.
KENTUCKY BRANCH
Sylvia Bruton of ESU KY; Workshop participants; Tiffany Dillard, Program Coordinator of the Debate Society at the University of Louisville, and Dr. Ede Warner, Jr., Director of Debate Society/Associate Professor of Pan African Studies.
In May, a debate pilot program was officially launched in Louisville on the same weekend that the Kentucky Branch hosted their Regional Conference. Sylvia Bruton has recruited a Branch team of debate coaches, including Dr. Jeff Bile of Spalding University, Jim Wehrle, a human relations consultant and several ESU Branch scholars who are debaters and will attend Oxford University in July.
The pilot project is designed to produce an integrated debate program that furthers the pedagogical objectives of the Jefferson County Public Schools which serve over 98,000 students.
JCPS, in partnership with the Kentucky Branch, University of Louisville and the Associated Leaders of Urban Debate 
(ALOUD) will launch programming at 7 middle schools this September, aiming for a late October or early November debate event. The initial workshop to announce the debate program attracted 45 teachers, administrators and interested staff. Will Baker, ALOUD’s Executive Director gave the keynote at the ESU regional meeting and spoke at the workshop along with Dr. Ede Warner and Tiffany Dillard from the University of Louisville.
Schools will identify interested students and teachers to serve as coaches who will be trained at a session in early September. This session with be facilitated by the ESU Kentucky Branch in conjunction with ALOUD. For more information, please contact Sylvia Bruton at sbruton@insightbb.com.
CLEVELAND BRANCH
John Rampe heads a team that includes representatives from ALOUD and committed school leaders to introduce debate into targeted middle schools in the Cleveland area working with John Carroll University.
The Cleveland Branch plans to hold a workshop in mid-September and is identifying a group of middle schools that will hold their first showcase event in May 2010. For more information, please contact John Rampe (ESU) jnr@torquetrans.com; Marcie Nunn (ESU), marcy@mknfinancial.com; or Will Baker (ALOUD), will.aloud@gmail.com.
SANDHILLS/PINEHURST BRANCH
Jim Williford is working with the school system in Moore County to implement debate in their five middle schools. With the consent of the principals, 5-6 schools from Moore County will be involved in the debate pilot and another 1-2 are being approached in Lee County. The initial training events will be scheduled for September 24 and will feature a stakeholders meeting, a coaches trainin, a judge training and a student training. The actual debate showcase will occur in mid-October.
The geographically spread out nature of Moore County offer an opportunity for the ESU to also engage in the exciting world of digita debate. Using Skype technology and digital screens from Best Buy, The Sandhills/Pinehurt Branch hopes to host digital debates between two counties with the assistance of Mike Cunningham from the Austin Debate League. For more information, please contact Jim Williford (ESU), jwillford10@nc.rr.com or Will Baker (ALOUD), will.aloud@gmail.com.
NEW YORK BRANCH
Rather than begin their own initiative, ESU-NY partnered with the IMPACT Coalition and Columbia University’s Youth for Debate to support Lincoln Douglas debate programs in New York City. ESU-NY was represented at the opening symposium held at New York University where Executive Director Barbara O'Dwyer Lopez introduced herself to the young debaters.
The NY Branch played an integral role by identifying the perfect venue for the final debates in May, the Dicapo Theater. Barbara Lopez represented the ESU-NY as a guest judge for the final round of the IMPACT Coalition’s New York Lincoln Douglas Debate Challenge and became the first ESU representative to actually participate in a debate sponsored by an ALOUD partner program. The prestigious panel of judges included Ken Lipper (chairman Lipper & Co, senior consultant to Cushman & Wakefield), Ron Shelp (former AIG executive, author of Amazon best seller “Fallen Giant), Carol Van Atten (Senior Vice President, Charles Hayden Foundation) and Josh Margulies (faculty member, New York University, Media, Culture & Communications).
For more information, please contact Barbara Lopez (ESU), esuofny@aol.com or Will Baker will.aloud@gmail.com.
COLUMBUS BRANCH
With a 16 team middle school league, ALOUD partner, the Columbus Debate League represents the best established program in middle school debate. ESU-Columbus is partnering with ALOUD, Capital University and the school system to produce a single event that compliments the existing middle school debate league and reaches out to students and schools who are not engaged in the current effort. Sixteen schools and over 100 debaters will participate in the event.
An opening workshop, hosted by Capital University, is scheduled for mid-October. The Columbus Branch will also sponsor a City Championship tournament on February 25th, 2010.
For more information, please contact Barbara Ambros at ba523@yahoo.com.
This pilot program was generously underwritten by the Drey Endowment of the English-Speaking Union, Central Florida Branch.
