The Debate Club is an extension of the debate class at Fort Lauderdale High School.

“The club’s goal is to help students improve their argumentative skills,” said advisor Arthur Kulawik. 

 From 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm every Monday in room 506, where Mr. Kulawik’s class is held, the club does its best to prepare students for debate tournaments by making sure they improve their public speaking.

“[Joining this club will] be useful to improve my debate skills for the future, for my future start-ups,” said Albert Gordeev (9). 

 “I like the club as it allows me to do more moral debating, just like my preferred debate events,” said Alec Bostwick (11).

Some students participate in the club because their schedules did not permit them to take the class.  

“[I joined the club] because I was not able to take the second [debate] class because of scheduling,” said Lea Arias (10). “I hope to improve my debating skills [with this club] surrounded by people who know what they’re doing.” 

The club is mostly run by seniors who learned debate under Mr. Kulawik’s predecessor, Mr. Wakefield. These seniors are a great help to their juniors as they are very experienced in debate and can help the less experienced because they were in their position not very long ago.

“We are trying to keep the team alive after we leave. We have very intelligent and eager young debaters who want to learn how to do it correctly,” said club president Mia Orta (11).

In the meetings held so far, they have primarily covered the different debate tournament divisions like Congress, Public Forum, or Lincoln-Douglass. These opportunities help students who are unable to take Mr. Kulawik’s class or wish to spend extra time preparing for tournaments in the future.