While freshman participate in PARCC, the sophomores meet in the commons to work on debates. Sophomore Erin McElroy and sophomore Laura Setser work on writing their debate speeches which they will present to their class.

All students are separated into teams of four which compete against each other to debate the topic of school starting time for the district. The debates teach extensive researching and persuasive writing along with public speaking skills. Debates continue through the second half of fourth quarter as the final large assignment for all sophomore Language Arts classes.

The students battle both the affirmative and negative sides and after class debate certain students will be selected to compete in “All Stars” against other classroom winners. At the end of the competition, there is an ice cream social for all sophomores to celebrate all that they learned.