Students teach debate in Trenton

The goal is to focus on debate fundamentals such as “rhetoric, poise, articulation, enunciation and projection,” Doshi said in an e-mail.

During these after-school sessions, undergraduates will tutor high school students in exploring arguments and rebuttals to various sociopolitical issues in the Public Forum Debate style.

“These skills are developed almost entirely through student debates,” Doshi explained. “There isn’t much lecturing to be done.”

Last semester, the organization taught two speech and debate classes at Trenton Central High School, but the classes were canceled by the administration for the spring semester due to scheduling problems. Adapting to the sudden change in plans has allowed the partnership to grow — and response from both the Princeton and Trenton communities has been positive.

“Teachers are really enthusiastic, and all the students seem to be relatively engaged,” former Whig-Clio president Benjamin Weisman ’11 said.

Despite the positive feedback, however, Doshi said that he, Weisman and their team of roughly a dozen students have already faced significant obstacles.

“Retaining student interest and maintaining support of the school” have been the hardest challenges, Doshi said, noting that the partnership’s expansion and growth ultimately depend on undergraduate support.

“We’re desperately in need of talented and experienced Princeton students, especially those with former debate experience,” he added.

The idea for the partnership arose last summer when several members of the partnership began thinking about using their skills in the larger community. Instead of simply using debate skills to pursue personal academic access, the members found that “the idea of using those skills to help others just seemed more fun and more meaningful,” Doshi explained.

While the partnership is currently training students for debate competitions, Weisman and Doshi noted that the organization’s overall goal is broader.

Weisman said that the program will serve as an “educational outlet” for students “with limited resources.”

The organization “teaches life skills which cannot be taken away — the very skills that often make the difference in college admissions, job interviews and advocacy for one’s own community,” Doshi said.