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There’s an inspiring partnership happening in Tulsa, the debate program at Will Rogers College Junior High and High School is leading students towards success.

“People who do debate in high school, and happen to be good at it or just have a lot of passion for it, get a lot of great scholarships to colleges,” said student Samantha Ferguson. 

Igniting that passion has been a goal for Ross Faith and the Tulsa Debate League. 

“We would love to see Rogers serve as a model for what we’re trying to do for the rest of the district,” said Faith. 

The program at Rogers recently got the 21^stCentury Community Learning Center grant to help them grow, and they have, membership more than doubled in the second year of the program.

The grant allowed the Tulsa Debate League to test their theory; a bigger program could develop and would attract interest if instructors could spend more time teaching students.

“I had originally thought about not doing it this year. But my friends were like, ‘you’re really good at it, you should do it,’ and I’m like ‘okay, I’ll do it again.’ And it’s actually proven to be a lot of fun,” said Ferguson.    

Faith says the team helps give some students a purpose.

“They are showing up to school more frequently,” said Faith. “Because they are invested in this program and being part of the debate team.”