Hear our interview with Edward Lake of LaPorte High School, one of our school partners in LaPorte, Indiana!

Tell us about your school.
We are a public school serving 1,800 students in grades 9 through 12. The school offers a diverse range of educational opportunities, including Advanced Placement courses, career and technical education pathways, fine arts programs, and extracurricular activities that encourage leadership and teamwork. Like many public high schools across the country, we face challenges related to college and career readiness, student engagement and support services, and academic performance in certain subject areas, particularly mathematics and science.

Tell us about your team.
Our debate team numbers were decimated during Covid, but we have gone from 12 debaters in 2021-2022, to 25 debaters in the 2022-2023 school year, and now we have 38 debaters for our current school year. We have a number of debaters who, although previously having a low interest in school, developed a high interest in debate. Many of my debaters have told me that debate is their main reason for attending school each day. We have a number of students who take part in Congress, and Public Forum. We also have a number of students who have tried Lincoln-Douglas last year and are committed to that debate forum until they graduate.

Which events do you participate in?
Congressional Debate (House & Senate) (CON), Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD), Policy Debate (CX), Public Forum Debate (PF), World Schools Debate (WS)

How could additional funding help your school?
I would use the money to buy materials for Values Debate Format (Lincoln-Douglas Debate). I have a number of students that have expressed interest in focusing on this format. I have found a great resource from the NCFCA entitled "24-25 Young Philosophers: Intro to Value Debate Camp RESOURCES" which costs $200. Last year I made use of some of their print materials for Values Debate and was very happy with the quality and results. I think this material will go into even greater depth and help students better understand the values and techniques in a Value Debate.