On Tuesday May 29th, 2009 Mr. Hummer’s 5th grade class at Micheltorena Street School hosted an Afternoon of Debate. Students who demonstrated a mastery of several learning standards spent about a month preparing for the Lincoln/Douglas style debates. Everyone wore fancy clothes, refreshments were served, and parents were invited. The five debate topics, and even the debate style were inspired by Mr. Hummer’s class’ unit on the Civil War.

Two of the debaters were none other than 826LA’s own drop in super stars Alex and Oscar! Several other drop in students, and intern Annie, sat down with Alex and Oscar to find out what happened earlier today.

“Why are you wearing those fancy suits?” Pedro, age 8

A: I was in a debate.

O: Because the teacher told us to.

“What is a debate?” Jessica, age 13

A: A debate is when two groups argue over something. Then we do rebuttals - the negative and the positive side each do it. The affirmative side only does rejoinders. After that we are finished. The judges tally up the points, and then you get either a team or individual trophy.

O: When two people fight by arguing.

“Hm. What makes a debate different from an argument?” Annie, intern

A: A debate is when you make speeches, actually, in an argument you just stay stuff and like, you could talk about anything. In a debate they give you something- a topic.

O: Because in the debates, like, there is a lot of people. And you have to say a speech and then they get to ask questions. You have to rebuttal. The affirmative sometime has a rejoinder. In an argument you just like talk.

“What did you debate about?” Annie, intern

A: I debated about affirmative action. The question was: “Should affirmative action laws be repealed?” My topic was the hardest one. Cuz there is not a lot of details to find, because the laws are like confusing. Some other people debated “Should countries in the western hemisphere adopt a common currency?” and about steroids in sports.

O: I debated about whether or not the United States troops should come home from Iraq. I argued the affirmative. Why did I argue the affirmative? Because the teacher chose the teams and he put me there.

“I think you were scared [because you may have never been to a debate]. Were you?” Odalys, age 9

A: I was nervous, not scared. Cuz I have never been in a debate, but I have seen them.

O: I was kinda nervous. But then when I was on the stage, saying my speech, I got over it. The whole auditorium was full!

“How did you get involved with debate?” Annie, intern

A: I finished my homework on time, I turned my projects in on time. So my teacher chose me.

O: Because the teacher does it every year. It wasn’t an option, see, we have to do it. It was like part of our grade.

“How did you prepare for the debate?” Annie, intern

A: I prepared by going to the Internet and finding details about the laws. Its not like laws, its laws about African Americans.

O: I looked it up on the Internet. I went to Google. I wrote my speech down by hand, and then my partner wrote it on the computer.

“How did coming to 826LA help you win the debate?” Annie, intern

A: Yes it did! Like they help on my homework, and on my projects. The teacher said the people who turned in good projects would get to debate, so 826LA helped me do good [on those].

O: Yes. Um, they helped me with my writing.

“What are you holding in that picture?” - Dayanara, age 6

A: It is my certificate. He [Mr. Hummer and the judges] gave it to not all the people, but some of the people - the best people from the negatives and positives from each team.

O: A trophy! It was for the best debate team. I get to keep it. I am going to put it on my shelves.

Alex is ten and goes to Micheltorena Street School. He is in fifth grade. He lives in Echo Park. His favorite thing to do is play video games and sports.

Oscar is ten and goes Micheltorena Street. He is in fifth grade. He lives in Echo Park. He likes to play videogames and play soccer.