For Grades 6 to 10, July 1st to July 12th, located at the College of St. Elizabeth.
What We Do
What we Do
At Atlas Debate camps, students will learn the fundamentals of public speaking and critical thinking, allowing them to develop important leadership and debate skills. Atlas operates in a fun and friendly environment, conducive to learning. Our curriculum is composed of three core ideas:
Public Speaking
Critical Thinking
Research
Atlas teaches students to communicate their ideas by working on the basics of public speaking. Students will learn to speak powerfully, with eye contact and intonation. Most importantly, students will gain the confidence to be able to speak on any issue with the end goal being the ability to speak extemporaneously.
In debate, there are two sides to every topic. Students will learn to critically examine the costs and benefits of both sides to an issue, while thinking deeply about how to refute certain points. Most importantly, we aim to teach students to “think on their feet” in order to quickly reach conclusions about how to defend and respond to arguments.
Students back up their back up claims they make with solid evidence sourced from universities and scholarly papers. We will teach students how to analyze studies and statistics, and simplify them in a way that any student can understand. Students will also learn to sift through thousands of words of information to find the information they need.
Dining Facilities
Rose Dining Room
Students will have daily access to the newly renovated Rose Dining Hall. The All-You-Care-To-Eat facility is filled with fresh, house-made, wholesome foods.
A Day in the Life
Sample Schedule
Atlas camps begin each day with 9:00 AM drop off and 4:00 PM pick up. Our schedule includes a mix of fun games and learning activities. Read below for a more detailed version of what a day at camp looks like.
Sample Daily Schedule
8:30 - 9:00: Check in—campers will meet instructors at a convenient check in location before going inside the building
9:00-9:15: Students will meet briefly for morning announcements, and break off into their “lab” groups. Students may also play icebreaker games in the first few days while they’re still getting to know each other.
9:15 - 11:00: Morning Instruction! Within their respective groups, campers will learn the basics of important skills like “cross examination”. Afterwards, students will participate in public speaking activities to practice the skills they were just taught.
11:00 -12:00: Thinking Creatively: instructors will give students various topics (best holiday, most fun sport, ect) and guide students through the basics of argument generation
12:00 - 1:00: Lunchtime—Everyone will eat together, along with instructors. Afterwards, campers and instructors will go outside to get some fresh air (weather permitting), where students have the option of playing sports, games, and a brief opportunity to unwind before returning to work.
1:00 - 2:00: Lab time—students will work in small groups where instructors give them individual attention, to assist them where they need it most (whether it be research or speaking exercises).
2:00 - 3:00: Public speaking time! Students will engage in various different public speaking activities such as shark tank pitches, extemporaneous speeches, and more, to practice their public speaking skills.
3:00 - 3:30: Time for research: Campers will work with instructors to go through evidence, and learn the best way to integrate real world examples into arguments. Different arguments and different research will be done everyday!
3:30 - 4:00: Teamwork—Students will engage in various team building activities that are meant to build leadership skills as well be a lot of fun.
4:00: Check out! Students will meet their parents.
Our Location
The College of St. Elizabeth
Nestled in suburban Morristown, New Jersey, The College of Saint Elizabeth is a private Roman Catholic, coeducational, four-year, liberal arts college. See more about our location at the interactive map at the bottom of this page!
Click the red dot on this interactive map for directions to our location, and to see how far it is from where you live.