A local teacher is being honoured for his work as a debate coach.
Morden Collegiate Institute's Michael Macaraeg is the recipient of the Canadian Student Debating Federation's Willis S. McLeese Award for outstanding contribution to debate in Manitoba.
"It was certainly a surprise," Macaraeg says, adding recipients of the Willis S. McLeese Award are typically teachers who have put in decades of work.
"I've been fortunate that debate has really caught on here at Morden Collegiate, as well as having the support of our school division to host a national event in 2019."
While he says the recognition is always appreciated and gives a sense of validation to the work, Macaraeg says it's also a testament to how dedicated and passionate his students are to learn debate.
"I've been lucky to have some stellar students over the past five years who have always wanted to improve on public speaking and debate, regardless of where their starting point is," he explains. "We just try to provide a fun and welcome learning environment and the students take it from there."
While there's no surefire life-hack to win a debate, Macaraeg says he always tells his students that the basics of debate are simple: construct your case so that your arguments are clear and well-organized, and refute your opponents’ points in the same manner.
In fact, his favourite part of debate is being floored by how smart and well-informed students are of the world around them.
The theme of this year’s National Seminar was, "Truth and Reconciliation: Making the Calls to Action a Reality" and he says being able to see how aware teenagers are of their biases and privileges is impressive. And with Orange Shirt Day coming up this week, Macaraeg adds students have a good grasp on how they can change the world for the better.
"Also, seeing students after they have done a debate is akin to any adrenaline rush that they'll encounter in sports or a drama production."
Like a lot of schools, the pandemic has forced Morden Collegiate Institute to be creative in offering students extracurricular activities, so debate in Manitoba has made the shift online for debate tournaments.
"This actually helps us out considerably here in Morden since we no longer have to drive in to Winnipeg to compete against other schools," he says. "I've also been working with a couple of formidable teachers at Northlands Parkway Collegiate in Winkler who have plans to grow debate there, so continuing the growth and development of debate in Southern Manitoba is always on the radar."
He notes since establishing the debate program at Morden Collegiate, they now attract 12-18 students each year, with around a 60-40 split for English and French debaters.
Related articles:
Fri, Apr 19, 6:00 PM
Labour, Hourly, Seasonal
Featured
