Club returns to city schools for sake of argument

For this group of high school students, there is nothing better than a healthy debate – even if it means taking a side they don’t agree with.

“If there’s a reason to argue, we’ll argue,” said Dillon Wright, a junior at Nashua High School North. “And if everyone picks one side, I’m just going to pick the other side.”

Wright is part of a group of students who have reformed Nashua’s high school debate team, which has been defunct for as long as anyone in the school district can remember. It started this year, with 14 students from both high schools making up the team.

They meet after school twice a week to share their arguments and research, as well as practice their debating skills.

“The bottom line is it teaches them how to think. You can’t get through life without thinking,” said Vicki Payne, a Nashua North ELL teacher who serves as one of the team’s coaches. It also teaches them how to communicate and defend their opinions, she said.

Payne said there was an effort last year to get a team off the ground and a small group of students went to watch debate tournaments to get a feel for what they were getting into.

Sean Stempler, a sophomore at South, said one of a critical aspect of debate is the ability to improvise.

“Also, being able to speak confidently and clearly. And you need to be able to support both sides,” Stempler said.

The students aren’t sure which side they’re taking until the day of the debate. Students have to be well-versed in affirmative and negative arguments, and after each speech, there is a chance for cross-examination.

“Each argument has to be very organized,” Wright said.

Longtime high school teacher Bob Sherman said there hasn’t been a high school debate team in Nashua since 1983, when then-coach Ken Relihan left the school district.

The team recently took part in its first competition at Manchester Essex Regional High School in Massachusetts.

They were pleasantly surprised when two Nashua teams advanced to the quarter finals and one team made it to the semifinals, Payne said.

Another benefit of having a debate team is that many colleges give scholarships to students if they are good enough, Payne said.

“There are kids on four-year rides just for debate,” she said.

Team members said preparing for debates requires an excessive amount of research.

“If you don’t have evidence behind what you’re saying, it basically doesn’t count,” Dillon said.

The theme of the debates the students are taking part in is whether the government should provide social services for people living in poverty, a timely issue given the national debate going on over universal health care.

The students admitted that some of their arguments can get a little obscure. For example, one of the arguments that came up during practice Tuesday was the “meat disadvantage.”

As explained by Stempler, the argument against providing social services to those in poverty is that it would give them more money, which in theory would be used to purchase more meat.

That would in turn increase the level of meat production, thereby increasing the number of cows. Because cows emit methane, the effects of global warming could be intensified.

Brendan Taylor, a freshman at North heard about the debate team at an event to introduce students to the different groups and activities. Taylor moved from Florida to Nashua over the summer and was looking for a way to make some new friends.

Several members of the team said they joined because they’ve always enjoyed debating among their friends.

“I kind of attract arguments,” said Mayank Dubey, a sophomore at South.

The team has one girl – Isha Thlang, a sophomore at South, who “keeps us in check,” said Philip Bergeron, a junior at South. Payne said members of the Bishop Guertin High School debate team have helped to train the Nashua team.

The team has another competition in New Jersey in December, and the goal is to send some members of the team to the national competition in Georgia later in the school year.

Although teachers receive a stipend for coaching, the team does not have a budget and has to do a lot of fundraising to help offset the costs of travel.

Erin Cruez, a North English teacher and a coach on the team, said debating teaches more than you might think.

“Within seconds, you have to decide how you’re going to respond. People think it’s just arguing, but it’s more complex than that,” Cruez said.

“This is pretty new to all of us. It’s exciting to see it finally come together,” she added.

The Learning Curve appears Thursdays in The Telegraph. Michael Brindley can be reached at 594-6426 or mbrindley@nashuatelegraph.com.