Seventh grade students in the Outside the Box class recently participated in a debate over the pros and cons of gun control. Those students were Lily Brinker; Lewie Sharp; Boet Vandenberg; Jonathan Hill; Evelyn Needham; Kendall Smart; Andy Guevara; and Nick Deitrich. The students qualified for the final debate in preliminary rounds.
 
The final debate began first by presenting the affirmative position, followed by a cross examination and then a final rebuttal. The students prepared by researching both sides of the topic in order to debate both the affirmative and the negative position. Students were not told which side they would be arguing until minutes before the debate began.
 
According to Middle School social studies teacher Forbes Cone, this helps students think fast as well as to formulate well-reasoned arguments.
 
“They also learn how to be concise, because they only have two minutes to deliver their assertions, reasoning and evidence. They learn how to persuade their audience with passion and conviction,” says Cone.
 
This marked the fourth annual debate for the class, which is also taught by Middle School teachers Adrian Green and Dani Goldstein. Outside the Box, a project-based learning class, encourages students to work through challenges in order to teach and practice CA’s 6Cs of character, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and cultural competence.
 
“Working together, students collaborated to think critically about a contemporary issue. They also had to see the issue from multiple perspectives in order to creatively argue both sides,” says Cone.