High School Debates Engage Jewish Youth Across the Lower Mainland
Fostering connections to Israel is an important part of Federation’s commitment to building a vibrant and enduring Jewish community. To that end, our Israel and Overseas Department keeps our community connected to Israel through local celebrations, education and advocacy. One popular program that fall in the education category is the 18th Annual High School Debates, which students and teacher are busy preparing for.
The debates will take place at King David High School on Tuesday, January 25th, and are open to all high school students in grades 8-12. Each year the debates bring together nearly 100 youth to actively engage in and discuss ongoing issues in Israel, which leads to a deepened awareness of Israel-related issues for all participants.
Topics are generated by the debates committee, which strategically chooses ongoing issues and formulates topics for each grade. The students the have a month to research and prepare, both in class and at home. Past topics have engaged students in debate about removal of the security fence in the West Bank and disabling Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Micky Goldwein, Jerusalem emissary at the Jewish National Fund, judged last year’s debates and recalls “The caliber of work that goes into each and every student’s preparation is simply remarkable – the students choose to take on this extra research outside of school hours, in addition to their regular homework, and their dedication really shows. Even their rebuttals were carefully planned, and thought provoking.”
High school students throughout the Lower Mainland are invited to participate in the debates. For more information, or to register, contact Shelley Goldberg at 604.257.5100 sgoldberg@jewishvancouver.com. Registration deadline is Friday, January 7, 2011.