The Debate Club is just one of many clubs you’ll find at Lower Moreland. Despite this, it feels like it never truly gets the respect that it deserves. Debate Club isn’t the biggest club, having only a dozen or so members, but it possesses some of LMHS’s best and brightest students.
It is headed by Mr. Murray Levin, Esq., who, by his own account, is one of, if not the oldest, person working at the school. Before becoming the faculty advisor for Debate Club, Mr. Levin practiced law for more than four and a half decades, which has helped him lead the club.
Mr. Levin also has a master’s degree in educational psychology and has taught at the elementary school and Extended School Year program at Lower Moreland. His biggest challenge in leading the club is that the members are very involved in lots of other activities at the high school, which makes scheduling difficult, but all the same, he is very happy to lead the group and help them learn how to shape clear, reasoned arguments.
Lower Moreland High School Debate Club competes in debates against other local debate teams as a member of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Debate League. These debates have several different categories, including Public Forum, which is a team of two students competing against another team of two students and debating a current events topic. An Extemporaneous debate is a 1-on-1 debate where competitors are given 30 minutes to prepare for a current event topic. An Impromptu debate involves one competitor being given a phrase, a quote, or an image and having to write and orate a meaningful, sometimes philosophical, speech about it after only seven minutes of preparation. There are many options, and each one can be chosen to best fit your preferred style of preparation and speech.
However, more than the individual structured formats, debate allows students to develop an important skill. It encourages well-researched thinking and lateral thinking at the same time. Mr. Levin also commented on this, saying, “Debate is a valuable skill for all students. It teaches them to think before they speak, listen carefully, and respond with evidence that directly answers the question.”
Debate is quite an interesting club with a diverse group of individuals and a team that includes many intelligent individuals from every grade in the school. If you are looking to hone your thinking skills, Debate may be the club for you!
