Verbattle Format Gains Traction in Canada

Sir Winston Churchill High School, 5220 Northland Dr. N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2L 2J6 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Calgary Students Thrilled by Verbattle
By Sophie Zhao, 12 October 2014
In its second year of operation at Sir Winston Churchill High School, Verbattle has received extremely positive feedback from both the student and staff population. The Verbattle club runs every Tuesday at lunch and invites students of all backgrounds and experience levels to participate in debate about a broad range of subjects. So far, several heated debates regarding high school life, politics, and controversial issues in the fields of science and philosophy have already been staged and audience for these discussions grows every week; currently, dozens of people participate regularly in Verbattle debate.
Upon being asked to summarize what they learned in Verbattle, several students state that it has improved their debating skills, given them more confidence in public speaking, and also drove them to think faster and more critically, a central skill in Verbattle debate. Other individuals learned about current events from observing debates and claim to have grown more curious about various topics previously unknown to them. The Verbattle club is working teachers and administration to host a school-wide debate at the end of this academic year. The staffs at Sir Winston Churchill High School have expressed support for this and plans are currently underway.