Smoke Signals

Today I met Gabriel Lyannas, a current senior at East Coweta High School who is the co-founder and vice-president of the ECHS Debate Club. In order to learn more about the club itself and some thoughts from one of the officers, I did an interview with Gabriel regarding the Debate Club.

Q: Tell us about Debate Club.
Gabriel: The ECHS Debate Club is a casual club where members can express their opinions in intellectual yet entertaining debates. We have open discussions about themed topics and activities for the members to participate in. We focus our interactive activities around engaging, casual debate topics to better members’ speaking and argumentation skills. Debate is a fun, low-stakes club and not strictly academic.

Q: What was the reason behind creating the Debate Club?
Gabriel: Debate Club was created to fill the gap for public-speaking related activities at EC. We didn’t want to create a strict debate team, but chose to make Debate Club inviting and focused on improving members’ speaking skills and ability to argue since these skills are important to life after high school. We also wanted to create a fun club that provides members with a welcoming environment.

Q: Among the topics you discussed at the club, which one was the most fascinating to you and why?
Gabriel: The most intriguing topic to me was, “Is the world (generally) fair?” It’s a topic with many perspectives to consider, including your own life experiences. It was interesting to hear the various points members made for their arguments. I’m still undecided on my answer to the question.

Q: Do you have any future plans for the club? If so, can you share it with us?
Gabriel: We are hoping to offer structured in-school debate competitions second semester, but nothing is set in stone yet. We will also be passing the torch to the future Officers of Debate Club, who will lead it after all the current officers have graduated.

Anyone who is interested in public-speaking or debate is welcome to come to their meetings held every other Tuesday in the Main Media Center right after school. The club will also be a great opportunity to learn what others might think about the topic and broaden your perspective, so go participate in the Debate Club if you are available every other Tuesday after school!