Our workshops were established by career speech & debate educators who have committed their lives to helping students find and cultivate their voice. Speech and debate play vital roles in developing students' public speaking, written expression, research skills, organization, and self-confidence. Experience in speech and debate improves standardized test scores and college admissions opportunities.
Every student's journey will be different, and the greatest benefits of speech and debate come from long-term participation. Continued growth is always the goal.
Our classes are led by a combination of award winning classroom educators alongside champion upper class high school and collegiate competitors. This model ensures instructors are able to develop positive relationships to help us meet learners where they are and walk alongside them in their individual journeys.
We believe that preparation for subsequent competitive experience is uniquely situated to provide an outstanding speech and debate education. Competition encourages a marketplace for expression, exposes students to expert judges, builds confidence, and teaches values associated with learning through mistakes and loss.
This school year, we will offer four competitive event tracks. As always, classes are divided among skill and experience, and students will work with multiple instructors. Students will spend the first few weeks being introduced to these events followed by their non-permanent event selection. These events have been chosen based on our instructors' collective expertise in these areas.
How Classes Are Selected
On the first day a learner attends CDA, they will receive an introduction to the events below. It may be useful for families to view demonstrations of these events in advance, if interested. Students are asked to rate their preferences for classes with available enrollment.
What Classes Look Like
Our philosophy is centered around tournament competition. Students will not gain the full experience of competitive speech and debate without them. Classes are designed to introduce students to these events, prepare for competition, and practice these skills in real time. On staff we have 5 adult teachers with more than 75 years collective classroom experience. These teachers are each responsible for a number of classes for which they oversee curriculum, lesson planning, and teacher training. Our ideal student/teacher ratio is 10:1 with a classroom of 20 students and 2 high school instructors. Each high school instructor has been vetted and hired on the basis of their years of experience, competitive success, and classroom acumen.
World Schools Debate
World Schools Debate is an international debate format in which many nations compete. The event offers teams of 3-5 students the opportunity to debate prepared and impromptu motions in an internationally formatted parliamentary style. Debates are suitable for public audiences. Students research and prepare for several topics at once. Debates last 1-2 hours, and prepared topics rotate every few months. Many students in World Schools also benefit from Extemporaneous Speaking practice. Recently, Team USA captured the World Championship in this event for the first time. Coppell High School won the State Championship in 2023. Currently, Coppell has 6 students ranked in the top 100 WSD students nationally, and 5 are on staff at CDA.
Cross Examination Debate
Coppell High School has been a dominant figure in state- and national-level CX debate for decades. Also known as policy debate, this fast-paced 2-person team debate event is the format most commonly chosen by elite colleges offering competitive scholarships. Debaters research one topic the entire year in great depth. Competitors sometimes speak at a rapid speed as priority is typically given to information exchange and strategy over formal presentation skills. Coppell Debate is highly decorated in this event.
Lincoln Douglas Debate
Modeled after the Abraham Lincoln & Stephen Douglas debates of the 1800s,
this event has origins in propositions of value and philosophy. A 1:1 format,
this event has taken on many of the attributes of Policy Debate in the last two decades but still retains much of its value debate origins evident especially in the selection of 2-month topics. In 2023, Coppell High School advanced a student to the elimination rounds of the Tournament of Champions, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country. In 2025, Coppell is proud to have one of the top-ranked debaters in the nation (also on staff!).
Competitive Speaking
This division offers students an opportunity to select from a range of individual events, including Congressional Debate, Extemporaneous Speaking, Original Oratory, and Informative Speaking. Students in this division often become multiple-event experts and well-rounded competitors.
Regardless of their initial selections, students are always allowed to try other
events or change their selections later. Tournament Participation is offered
and highly encouraged for all of our students regardless of their experience level.