Welcome to our Speech & Debate Summer Camps! We are thrilled to offer three Speech & Debate camps led by Christopher Wardner, the Director of Speech and Debate at Almaden Country Day School and a coach at Leland High School to rising Grade 6 - 8 grade students.
To register, click the button below. For any questions, please contact our Summer Camp Director, Catie Weston.
Week 4: July 17 - 21
9 am - 12 pm: Introduction to Competitive Debate
12:45 - 3:45 pm: Introduction to Competitive Speech
Week 5: July 24 - 28
9 am - 12 pm: Intro to Competitive Lincoln Douglas Debate
Coach Christopher Wardner has been the Public Speaking teacher and Director of Speech and Debate at Almaden Country Day School for over 25 years. He is a National Speech and Debate Association Three Diamond coach and was named the 2021 Middle School Coach of the Year. Mr. Wardner also coaches at Leland High School, which has been awarded the National Speech and Debate Association School of Distinction given to the top ten schools in the country. During his tenure, numerous students have reached the State and National tournament final rounds where 2 were named National Championships, 6 Showcase Champions, and 10 State Championships. To learn more about Almaden Country Day School's Competition Speech & Debate program, click here.
Camp Leader: Christopher Wardner
Price: $399
This course is for students entering grades 6-8 that are interested in interscholastic speech and debate tournaments. The course will introduce all five debate formats* as well as the research and writing skills unique to debate.
*The five debate formats are Congressional, Policy, Public Forum, Parliamentary, and Lincoln Douglas.
Camp Leader: Christopher Wardner
Price: $399
This course is for students entering grades 6-8 that are interested in interscholastic speech and debate tournaments. The course will introduce all three speech formats, the events* within each format, as well as the research and writing skills unique to speech events. Upon completion of the course students will be prepared to choose an event for competition, create an informative or persuasive rough draft, and craft a performance script and preliminary blocking for an interpretation.
*The speech events are Persuasive, Informative, Interpretation (Dramatic, Humorous, Duo), Spontaneous (Extemporaneous/Impromptu, Prose and Poetry, and Storytelling.
Camp Leader: Christopher Wardner
Price: $399
This course is for students entering grades 6-8 that are interested in entering Lincoln Douglas debate tournaments. The course will focus on Lincoln Douglas debate fundamentals including research / case writing, speaking / cross examination, and conclude with a practice debate.
To create a full-day experience with Speech & Debate Camps, check out our afternoon camps in our Summer Camps Catalog.