Debate Club, which is run by Helen Yan and Ani Seppelin, and advised by history teacher Mr. James Ethier, is one of the clubs at Oakmont Regional High School. This club is a perfect place for students to share their voices, while being helpful for students who struggle with public speaking. It educates students on important current events, not only around the world but also within the Ash-West community.

Every other week, on Monday afternoons, this group gathers in Mr. Ethier’s room to either have a lighthearted debate, or one that is more in-depth. Most debates start off with a warm-up, where the members are given an arguable thought that they have to defend.

Often, the student speaks for a certain amount of time, and has to speak without pausing or using what’s called “filler words.” Filler words include the words uh, and, but, like, yeah, um, sometimes, etc. Each session, the members tend to speak more confidently.

A lot of debate topics are voted on the Debate Cub’s Instagram. As of lately, more serious topics have been debated rather than those that are lighthearted. But, there is certainly a mix between debates.

This club is mostly student-led, and many of the debate ideas come from the students. The Debate Club is always welcoming new members. All are welcome to attend, and share their opinions on each and every topic!

Recently, to introduce the situation between Russia, Ukraine, and NATO, the members of the Debate Club were presented with a video for background information. This video is called, Why is Russia Invading Ukraine, by The Economist. The video gave some background information on Putin’s views about Ukraine and NATO, in regards to Russia and Ukraine being one nation without NATO, as well as giving some factual statistics and percentages.

After watching this introduction, there was a random selection, dividing the club into three groups. The three groups consisted of  Ukraine, Russia, and NATO. Even if the club members didn’t agree with the country/ organization they were defending, they were encouraged to think of some convincing arguments, in order to create a Model UN like discussion.

Then the groups came up with opening statements to introduce their country/ organization. The club was presented with a slideshow that held several discussion questions in which each group had to take part in. An example of a question is, “is Russia’s attack on Ukraine justified?”

An example of an argument presented by the representatives of Ukraine, that the lack of economic stability in Russia is not justification for their attack on Ukraine, which caused lots of death. Russia’s rebuttal included the flourish of Kyiv, and how Russia had poor economics and needed Ukraine. Lastly, NATO’s argument was to keep the peace within the neighboring countries, and that there’s no need for innocent death. 

At the end of this Model UN style debate, all members acknowledged the seriousness of the current situation. The debate’s purpose was used for educating and thinking about questions that may not have been asked.