"Judging debate is the core of the volunteer program at the Washington Urban Debate League. A judge is required for every 4 participants in a tournament, so the more judges we have, the more schools we can recruit and the more students we can work with. " "Join us on February 20th, 2021 for the conclusion of our national qualifying process at the middle and high school level. We expect several new teams to debut in one of our larger tournaments of the year, and great exchanges about the Criminal Justice Topic! Log On: 8:00 AM (Judge Training) 8:15 AM (Everyone Else) Wrap up: 6:00 PM Half-day shifts available. All competitions will be virtual until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Judges will be emailed login credentials a day or two before the event." New volunteers must consent to a background check found here: https://www.urbandebatewashingtondc.org/volunteer-policies Register here: https://www.urbandebatewashingtondc.org/volunteer-signup About Washington Urban Debate League: The mission of Urban Debate is simple, teach urban kids to think, communicate, collaborate, and love learning. The Washington Urban Debate League uses debate as a transformative educational opportunity to re-engage students and teach them portable skills such as critical thinking, research, public speaking, and advocacy that they will use in their future educational and career pursuits, and to contribute to their communities. Urban Debate programming removes barriers to participation and make debate accessible to students attending publicly funded educational institutions, especially Title 1 schools, where such opportunities have become scarce. Karim Sewell (Banneker High School) was our first High School Debater of the Year in 2015 Debate has a long and exciting history in the Washington area, the center of our nation's democracy. ​Sadly, opportunities for debate were only consistently found in elite, private institutions. The Washington Urban Debate League is the only organization providing free, high quality debate opportunities for public school students at the middle and high school level. We especially encourage the participation of students of color and those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds to participate and want our league to reflect the rich diversity of the metro area.