June 16, 2025 • 16 mins
We’re in an election season, where the word debate most likely will make you think about a politician taking cheap shots. But in the classic sense, speech and debate are about articulating ideas and analyzing complex issues with clarity, confidence and purpose. In an educational setting, it's meeting students where they are, and guiding them on how speak up on issues that matter to them. Our guest is KM DiColandrea, a.k.a. DiCo, Co-Founder/Executive Director of Brooklyn Debate League, which provides affordable access to coaching and competitions for students speech and debate students. For more, visit brooklyndebateleague.org.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to get connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly
conversation about fitness, health and happenings in our community on
one Oho six point seven light FM.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome then, thanks for listening to get connected. We're in
election season, so the word debate will most likely make
you think about a politician taking cheap shots. But in
the classic sense, speech and debate are about articulating ideas
and analyzing complex issues with clarity, confidence, and purpose. In
an educational setting, it's meeting students where they are and
(00:33):
through coaching and competition, teaching them how to speak up
on issues that matter to them, which is a very
powerful thing. Our guest is KMD Calandria, Ico, co founder
and executive director of Brooklyn Debate League, providing affordable access
to coaching and competitions for speech and debate students. DECO,
thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thanks for having mena.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
You can find out more at Brooklyndebate League dot org.
You are part of the stuyves High School Speech and
Debate team growing up. What was exciting to you about
it back then.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
When I first started. The exciting part is what most
kids that excited about, which is ribbons and trophies and winning.
But halfway through my high school career because I went
to stuyves and I watched the twin Towers fall from
a couple blocks away, and then it very quickly became
about this was the place where I got to speak
about what I saw happening in the world. And as
a kid that didn't have a lot of power, there
weren't a lot of platforms like that, but the chances
(01:27):
every weekend, every tournament, every practice to talk about what
I thought needed to be changed in the world to
make the world a better place. It was really a
part of the healing journey for me after September eleventh.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So what is speech and debate?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Speech and debate is kind of like an athletic event,
except you exercise your brain and not your body. So
if anyone's ever watched you know, like say, like track
and field at the Olympics, you'll know track and field
means a bunch of different kinds of events. You got
your shot put, and you got your your short you know,
your twenty meter or one hundred meter. Actually I'm a
track and field person, but there's different events, right. Speech
(02:03):
and debate like that is an umbrella event. That incorporates
a bunch of different events. So you've got folks that
do public speaking where they memorize someone's speech. You've got
folks who write their own speech. You've got folks who
like write the equivalent of like a Ted talk, and
folks who get a topic every single tournament they don't
know what it's going to be about. And then you
have the debate side, which is really what we're focusing
(02:23):
here on Brooklyn Debate League, where kids engage in discourse
about a topic with other kids. And some of that's
one on one, some of that's two on two, and
some of that's like a whole room full of students,
like talking about the pros and cons of a topic
and whether they agree or disagree.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Can you give us a topic, for instance that might
come up in one of these competitions?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Sure, So a really basic one is to talk about
like universal basic income, So should the US provide or
should New York City provide basic universal basic income to everybody?
And then kids would be like, oh, yes, I think
that's a great idea and here's why, or no, it's
not a great idea and here's why, and they really like,
I think a lot of people think about high school
kids talking and they're like, Oh, they're talking about nonsense
(03:02):
stuff like should we have more recess? They are not like,
the kids really want to engage in real policy questions
that you know, are about economics or about politics, or
about social issues that matter to them in the world around.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Them, and that involves a lot of preparation. So they're
digging into that too. Can you talk about the preparation
that goes into one of these things?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh? Yeah, absolutely, So there are buzzwords and education. I've
been a public school educator since two thousand and seven,
so for a long time, and you know, everyone's talking
about literacy, and we're talking about standardized testing and like
getting the kids able to be proficient at reading and math.
And while we don't do the math so much in debate,
we are all about the reading and the writing and
the speaking skills that really make up the basis of
(03:43):
the English language art standards in New York and around
the country, because what kids are doing is analyzing texts
and pulling evidence that they think supports their side, and
then using that to create and craft cases and speeches
that are cojund comprehensive persuasive and that they then they're
speaking it. So as opposed to like asking chat GPT
(04:06):
what chat GPT thinks about an issue when you ask
a kid, they got to convince you, They got to
talk to you, they got to know their audience, they
got to stand confidently in front of a room. And
also they have to answer questions, so they're on the
spot and people will push back and they have to
be able to defend what they're saying, and also in
the moment to figure out what does the other person
value here, and how do I target my audience? How
(04:29):
do I really target what I'm saying and say like
this is I know this is what you're valuing, so
why don't you look at it this way and let
me try to convince you this way. So there's a
lot of prep that goes in on the front end,
but also in the moment, it's using all the materials
that you've thought through, everything you've written, everything you've read,
all the evidence you have, and figuring out what are
you going to say strategically to convince someone of your case.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And also you're doing it on the spot. Even for adults,
it's very difficult. Sometimes you know you have a position
on something based years, but to coalesce it and bring
it together on the spot is a huge thing. And
also to listen to what's coming at you. I wonder
if you could talk a bit about listening.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Oh yeah. So when every kid joins our program or
any debate program, they think at first that to be
a great debater means to be able to talk better
than anyone else in the room. And while talking is
a big part of what we do, really being a
truly great debater means you're able to listen better than
anyone else in the room. Because when your opponent is
(05:29):
sharing their points, a lot of people their default mode
is like, all right, I'm just gonna think about like
what I'm gonna say, and I'm practicing my speech in
my head, and they're not really giving the full attention
to getting underneath what is the opponent saying. Why are
they saying that, Like what's driving their opinion? And the
best skill in debate is note taking like that, and
it's one that kids don't come to intuitively. We actually
(05:51):
have to teach them, like, here's how you structure your notes,
Here's how you listen carefully and think through exactly what
your opponent's saying, and you have prep time during the
round to think about, okay, like what do I want
to say in response? But when your opponent is speaking,
they need to have truly your undivided attention. And that's
a skill that we as adults, I think could benefit
from because frequently I think when we're talking to people
(06:13):
that don't agree with us, in our mind, we're just
like getting angry as opposed to being like, why what
are they saying? Why are they saying that? I wonder
what's underneath.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
That, whether there's that whole thing about are you waiting
to talk or you are you actually listening?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Our guest is km D Calandria Deco, who is co
founder and executive director of Brooklyn Debate League. Dco competed
on the Stuyvesant High School Speech and Debate team as
a graduate of Yale. They later started debate teams at
Frederick Douglas Academy and Achievement First Brooklyn High School, and
are the recipient of several teaching prizes, including the Teach
for America Alumni Award for Excellence and the Brother Sterner
(06:48):
Lifetime Service Award by the National Speech and Debate Association.
You can find out more at Brooklyndebate League dot org.
You're listening to get connected on one oh six point
seven light FM. I'm Mina del Rio. One of the
things on your website which is so impactful is the
origin story of how the league was founded. It sort
(07:09):
of unfurls in the story told to Humans of New York.
If anybody knows that social media Instagram page. It's fascinating,
but in shorts because we only have so many minutes,
and it is something I think people would be interested in.
Can you talk about how this organization was founded and
why you founded it?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Oh, I would love to so. Before the Humans of
New York story in twenty twenty two, it was a
twenty sixteen twenty seventeen. It was my first year having
students qualify for the national championship, and I took kids
to nationals and they got there and they were like, wait,
where's everybody else that looks like us? And my kids
were competing on the national circuit. In fact, they were
winning on the national circuit. We had kids win Harvard
(07:49):
and UPenn and Columbia. They were winning all over the country.
They were some of the only students who were black
and brown kids growing up in long income communities that
were competing at this level. And my students came to
me and said, what can we do about this? So
it was their idea to build the Brooklyn Debate League
while I was still a full time teacher, and we
would open up our school a couple times a month
(08:09):
to local middle schools, and my high school kids would
train the middle school kids and give them access to
speech and debate. And then when COVID hit, we moved
the whole operation online, and those students who had been
in my high school kids went on to college and
I started paying them stipends to run sessions over zoom.
And I was paying this out of pocket. And that's
where Jonathan Conyers, who was my co founder, who was
featured in the Humans of New York story, he had
(08:31):
recently graduated college himself, and I told him what was
going on. He said, all right, Dica, let me help
you front the bill here. So the two of us
are paying for this out of pocket. We put thousands
of dollars into from our own savings into this program,
and it's expanding, especially during COVID, and poor kids had
nothing to do, and like things were really sad in
New York. It gave him something to look forward to.
And then everything changed for us in twenty twenty two
(08:52):
when Jonathan Conyers told his story on Humans of New
York about how when he was on my debate team,
debate was the thing that changed his life. And I
didn't even know all the details about his life story,
honestly until his memoir I Wasn't Supposed to Be Here
came out shortly afterwards. But while John was competing at
my team in Frederick Douglass Academy in the two thousand
and nine twenty ten, he was experiencing homelessness. His parents
(09:16):
were struggling with substance abuse, He had experienced run ins
with the law, He had friends that were in prison,
like he was fourteen years old, and there was a
lot going on in his life. But all I knew
about him was this was a kid that showed up
every day to practice, came to every tournament, and was brilliant.
And he really credits joining the debate team as the
thing that helped him land a full scholarship to Sonybrook
(09:38):
University and to help him pursue a career where he
is now a When he's not coaching for Brooklyn Debate League,
which is he does a couple days a week, he's
a neonatal respiratory therapist at NYU and is literally saving babies.
But that is what he does for this man is
like Superman. But that it really started back when our
students needed it, and then a former student came to
my rescue in more ways than one, and now John
(10:01):
and I have been running this. This has been my
full time job and John's part time job for the
last three years.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
The speech and debate community tends to be sort of
one type of person. There's a lot of fees to
get in. It doesn't include everybody necessarily. That's something I
wasn't necessarily aware of. Can you talk about bringing kids
up from diverse backgrounds into this world?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah. So, unfortunately a lot of our public schools, who
are especially serving kids in law of communities, they're struggling,
like to keep the lights on. There's a national teacher shortage,
as a city teacher shortage, they're understaffed, like they are
focusing on like how did they just keep the curricular
pieces going? And understandably, there's not really a lot of
(10:47):
financial or otherwise bandwidth for extracurriculars. But when we think
about speech and debate, like for me personally and for John,
this was not a nice to have. This is what
got us through high scho and both of us were
experiencing very different traumas, like me processing watching September eleventh
happen outside my high school into a few blocks away,
and John processing being a young black boy growing up
(11:10):
in the United States, living in poverty, and like experiencing
homelessness and having a hard time. Speech of debay was
the place that like gave us a platform and helped
us find our voices and understand that they mattered, and
that then has trickle down effects everywhere. I wouldn't have
gotten into Yale if it wasn't for debate, and John
wouldn't have gotten into Stony Brooks either. So to hear
him say it anyway, right, I think he's probably any whatever.
(11:32):
But unfortunately our stories are not atypical. And I was
lucky to have to go to Stuyvesant, which is a
public school, but it's a specialized school. And many of
the specialized schools in New York do have debate programming,
but almost none of the title one that is, like
low income schools in New York offer that kind of
programming for their kids. And New York's not the exception here,
it's across the country. Like this is there's so much
(11:55):
money that goes into it in terms of like taking
kids to tournaments, hiring coaches, hiring judges, is like paying
for transportation and accommodations and you travel, and it's something
that unfortunately many folks who cannot mean, who have the means,
who can afford it, are giving their kids this opportunity
and the other kids are just being left out.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
How else do you see students approach conversations and approach
debate where you want to call it conversations or debate
in general, once they've participated in this advocating for things
or discussing things with people that may be difficult.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yeah, so this is what I'm proud of of. It's
great that the kids debate in high school and they
do really well, and they win trophies and they learn
how to be better readers and writers. Love all that.
But then beyond high school, what I have found as
an educator is that a disproportionate number of my debaters
have gone on to be educators themselves, which I think
is the best professional out there. You want to talk
(12:48):
about having an effect on the world, that's it. And
also we're seeing our kids, especially post twenty twenty, become
stronger and fiercer advocates. So, for example, one of my
students from Brooklyn Debate League two weeks ago posted on
his LinkedIn that tells you something about how they're already
starting to think right. Post it on his LinkedIn a
(13:09):
video of him giving a public hearing at City Hall
last month advocating for mental health centers in New York
City public schools. I didn't tell him to do that, right,
but he has said to me that being part of
speech and debate has helped him feel empowered to do
that because he knows how to use his voice and
he knows that it matters. So the kids are seeking
(13:29):
out places in their schools, in their communities and our
broader society where they're able to use their voices to
make a difference. And the story I often tell folks
when when they asked me, like, what would it look
like if this were done well and every kid had
access to this, We don't have to imagine because it happened,
And when the Parkland shooting happened in Florida a couple
of years ago, you probably remember everybody remembers how so
(13:53):
many of those students immediately took to town halls and
took to public protests. Some of them took to I
remember of them was arguing with Senator Mark or Rubio
and arguing with the NRA, like speaking fiercely about what
they thought needed to happen. And that's not a coincidence
because Broward County, Florida, where Parkland is, is one of
the few country the districts in the country that build
(14:15):
in speech and debate into their curriculum. So the kids
at Parkland had had speech and debate training built in
their public school curriculum. It wasn't a nice to have.
It wasn't an extracurricular. It was a curricular. And that's
what happens. I hate the fact that, you know, the
Parkland kids went through what they did, and that all
of our students are living through the times they're living
in right now, and there's a lot of stuff happening
(14:36):
that's stressing them out. But it feels like the least
that we can do is give them the tools they
need to know how to speak up about it.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
You have your program going on during the school year,
but you also have summer camp coming up. We are
airing in the middle of June. There is still some
time to check out what you have on offer for
this summer, So tell us a little bit about what
those opportunities are.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, we sure do so. If you know a rising
sixth through twelfth grader, we would love to work with
them this summer. We have an in person camp in
Brooklyn in July and then an online camp in August
for anybody that wants to come, and we'll be teaching kids,
middle school and high school kids the fundamentals of public speaking,
of debating, and we're also going to make it fun
(15:18):
for them because at Brooklyn Debate League. Hopefully you're getting
the vibe here. This is not one of those cutthroat
it's all about winning and that's the end here. No,
this is all about helping kids develop confidence and develop
community and understand that their voice matters. So we would
love to work with your students. If you know any
kids in the fifth current fifth graders through eleventh graders
rising sixth through twelfth, all the details are at Brooklyn
(15:40):
Debate League dot org slash camp.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
You can find out more about the summer programs, the
programs during the year, and ways to contribute at Brooklyndbate
League dot org. Our guest has been Kmdcalandria Deco, co
founder and executive director of Brooklyn Debate League. Thank you
for being on Get Connected.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Thanks so much for having me Nina.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
This has been Get Connected with Nina del Rio on
one oh six point seven light Fm. The views and
opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the views
of the station. If you missed any part of our
show or want to share it, visit our website for
downloads and podcasts at one oh six to seven lightfm
dot com. Thanks for listening.
Welcome to get connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly
conversation about fitness, health and happenings in our community on
one Oho six point seven light FM.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome then, thanks for listening to get connected. We're in
election season, so the word debate will most likely make
you think about a politician taking cheap shots. But in
the classic sense, speech and debate are about articulating ideas
and analyzing complex issues with clarity, confidence, and purpose. In
an educational setting, it's meeting students where they are and
(00:33):
through coaching and competition, teaching them how to speak up
on issues that matter to them, which is a very
powerful thing. Our guest is KMD Calandria, Ico, co founder
and executive director of Brooklyn Debate League, providing affordable access
to coaching and competitions for speech and debate students. DECO,
thank you for being on the show.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Thanks for having mena.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
You can find out more at Brooklyndebate League dot org.
You are part of the stuyves High School Speech and
Debate team growing up. What was exciting to you about
it back then.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
When I first started. The exciting part is what most
kids that excited about, which is ribbons and trophies and winning.
But halfway through my high school career because I went
to stuyves and I watched the twin Towers fall from
a couple blocks away, and then it very quickly became
about this was the place where I got to speak
about what I saw happening in the world. And as
a kid that didn't have a lot of power, there
weren't a lot of platforms like that, but the chances
(01:27):
every weekend, every tournament, every practice to talk about what
I thought needed to be changed in the world to
make the world a better place. It was really a
part of the healing journey for me after September eleventh.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
So what is speech and debate?
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Speech and debate is kind of like an athletic event,
except you exercise your brain and not your body. So
if anyone's ever watched you know, like say, like track
and field at the Olympics, you'll know track and field
means a bunch of different kinds of events. You got
your shot put, and you got your your short you know,
your twenty meter or one hundred meter. Actually I'm a
track and field person, but there's different events, right. Speech
(02:03):
and debate like that is an umbrella event. That incorporates
a bunch of different events. So you've got folks that
do public speaking where they memorize someone's speech. You've got
folks who write their own speech. You've got folks who
like write the equivalent of like a Ted talk, and
folks who get a topic every single tournament they don't
know what it's going to be about. And then you
have the debate side, which is really what we're focusing
(02:23):
here on Brooklyn Debate League, where kids engage in discourse
about a topic with other kids. And some of that's
one on one, some of that's two on two, and
some of that's like a whole room full of students,
like talking about the pros and cons of a topic
and whether they agree or disagree.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Can you give us a topic, for instance that might
come up in one of these competitions?
Speaker 3 (02:42):
Sure, So a really basic one is to talk about
like universal basic income, So should the US provide or
should New York City provide basic universal basic income to everybody?
And then kids would be like, oh, yes, I think
that's a great idea and here's why, or no, it's
not a great idea and here's why, and they really like,
I think a lot of people think about high school
kids talking and they're like, Oh, they're talking about nonsense
(03:02):
stuff like should we have more recess? They are not like,
the kids really want to engage in real policy questions
that you know, are about economics or about politics, or
about social issues that matter to them in the world around.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Them, and that involves a lot of preparation. So they're
digging into that too. Can you talk about the preparation
that goes into one of these things?
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Oh? Yeah, absolutely, So there are buzzwords and education. I've
been a public school educator since two thousand and seven,
so for a long time, and you know, everyone's talking
about literacy, and we're talking about standardized testing and like
getting the kids able to be proficient at reading and math.
And while we don't do the math so much in debate,
we are all about the reading and the writing and
the speaking skills that really make up the basis of
(03:43):
the English language art standards in New York and around
the country, because what kids are doing is analyzing texts
and pulling evidence that they think supports their side, and
then using that to create and craft cases and speeches
that are cojund comprehensive persuasive and that they then they're
speaking it. So as opposed to like asking chat GPT
(04:06):
what chat GPT thinks about an issue when you ask
a kid, they got to convince you, They got to
talk to you, they got to know their audience, they
got to stand confidently in front of a room. And
also they have to answer questions, so they're on the
spot and people will push back and they have to
be able to defend what they're saying, and also in
the moment to figure out what does the other person
value here, and how do I target my audience? How
(04:29):
do I really target what I'm saying and say like
this is I know this is what you're valuing, so
why don't you look at it this way and let
me try to convince you this way. So there's a
lot of prep that goes in on the front end,
but also in the moment, it's using all the materials
that you've thought through, everything you've written, everything you've read,
all the evidence you have, and figuring out what are
you going to say strategically to convince someone of your case.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
And also you're doing it on the spot. Even for adults,
it's very difficult. Sometimes you know you have a position
on something based years, but to coalesce it and bring
it together on the spot is a huge thing. And
also to listen to what's coming at you. I wonder
if you could talk a bit about listening.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Oh yeah. So when every kid joins our program or
any debate program, they think at first that to be
a great debater means to be able to talk better
than anyone else in the room. And while talking is
a big part of what we do, really being a
truly great debater means you're able to listen better than
anyone else in the room. Because when your opponent is
(05:29):
sharing their points, a lot of people their default mode
is like, all right, I'm just gonna think about like
what I'm gonna say, and I'm practicing my speech in
my head, and they're not really giving the full attention
to getting underneath what is the opponent saying. Why are
they saying that, Like what's driving their opinion? And the
best skill in debate is note taking like that, and
it's one that kids don't come to intuitively. We actually
(05:51):
have to teach them, like, here's how you structure your notes,
Here's how you listen carefully and think through exactly what
your opponent's saying, and you have prep time during the
round to think about, okay, like what do I want
to say in response? But when your opponent is speaking,
they need to have truly your undivided attention. And that's
a skill that we as adults, I think could benefit
from because frequently I think when we're talking to people
(06:13):
that don't agree with us, in our mind, we're just
like getting angry as opposed to being like, why what
are they saying? Why are they saying that? I wonder
what's underneath.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
That, whether there's that whole thing about are you waiting
to talk or you are you actually listening?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Our guest is km D Calandria Deco, who is co
founder and executive director of Brooklyn Debate League. Dco competed
on the Stuyvesant High School Speech and Debate team as
a graduate of Yale. They later started debate teams at
Frederick Douglas Academy and Achievement First Brooklyn High School, and
are the recipient of several teaching prizes, including the Teach
for America Alumni Award for Excellence and the Brother Sterner
(06:48):
Lifetime Service Award by the National Speech and Debate Association.
You can find out more at Brooklyndebate League dot org.
You're listening to get connected on one oh six point
seven light FM. I'm Mina del Rio. One of the
things on your website which is so impactful is the
origin story of how the league was founded. It sort
(07:09):
of unfurls in the story told to Humans of New York.
If anybody knows that social media Instagram page. It's fascinating,
but in shorts because we only have so many minutes,
and it is something I think people would be interested in.
Can you talk about how this organization was founded and
why you founded it?
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Oh, I would love to so. Before the Humans of
New York story in twenty twenty two, it was a
twenty sixteen twenty seventeen. It was my first year having
students qualify for the national championship, and I took kids
to nationals and they got there and they were like, wait,
where's everybody else that looks like us? And my kids
were competing on the national circuit. In fact, they were
winning on the national circuit. We had kids win Harvard
(07:49):
and UPenn and Columbia. They were winning all over the country.
They were some of the only students who were black
and brown kids growing up in long income communities that
were competing at this level. And my students came to
me and said, what can we do about this? So
it was their idea to build the Brooklyn Debate League
while I was still a full time teacher, and we
would open up our school a couple times a month
(08:09):
to local middle schools, and my high school kids would
train the middle school kids and give them access to
speech and debate. And then when COVID hit, we moved
the whole operation online, and those students who had been
in my high school kids went on to college and
I started paying them stipends to run sessions over zoom.
And I was paying this out of pocket. And that's
where Jonathan Conyers, who was my co founder, who was
featured in the Humans of New York story, he had
(08:31):
recently graduated college himself, and I told him what was
going on. He said, all right, Dica, let me help
you front the bill here. So the two of us
are paying for this out of pocket. We put thousands
of dollars into from our own savings into this program,
and it's expanding, especially during COVID, and poor kids had
nothing to do, and like things were really sad in
New York. It gave him something to look forward to.
And then everything changed for us in twenty twenty two
(08:52):
when Jonathan Conyers told his story on Humans of New
York about how when he was on my debate team,
debate was the thing that changed his life. And I
didn't even know all the details about his life story,
honestly until his memoir I Wasn't Supposed to Be Here
came out shortly afterwards. But while John was competing at
my team in Frederick Douglass Academy in the two thousand
and nine twenty ten, he was experiencing homelessness. His parents
(09:16):
were struggling with substance abuse, He had experienced run ins
with the law, He had friends that were in prison,
like he was fourteen years old, and there was a
lot going on in his life. But all I knew
about him was this was a kid that showed up
every day to practice, came to every tournament, and was brilliant.
And he really credits joining the debate team as the
thing that helped him land a full scholarship to Sonybrook
(09:38):
University and to help him pursue a career where he
is now a When he's not coaching for Brooklyn Debate League,
which is he does a couple days a week, he's
a neonatal respiratory therapist at NYU and is literally saving babies.
But that is what he does for this man is
like Superman. But that it really started back when our
students needed it, and then a former student came to
my rescue in more ways than one, and now John
(10:01):
and I have been running this. This has been my
full time job and John's part time job for the
last three years.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
The speech and debate community tends to be sort of
one type of person. There's a lot of fees to
get in. It doesn't include everybody necessarily. That's something I
wasn't necessarily aware of. Can you talk about bringing kids
up from diverse backgrounds into this world?
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah. So, unfortunately a lot of our public schools, who
are especially serving kids in law of communities, they're struggling,
like to keep the lights on. There's a national teacher shortage,
as a city teacher shortage, they're understaffed, like they are
focusing on like how did they just keep the curricular
pieces going? And understandably, there's not really a lot of
(10:47):
financial or otherwise bandwidth for extracurriculars. But when we think
about speech and debate, like for me personally and for John,
this was not a nice to have. This is what
got us through high scho and both of us were
experiencing very different traumas, like me processing watching September eleventh
happen outside my high school into a few blocks away,
and John processing being a young black boy growing up
(11:10):
in the United States, living in poverty, and like experiencing
homelessness and having a hard time. Speech of debay was
the place that like gave us a platform and helped
us find our voices and understand that they mattered, and
that then has trickle down effects everywhere. I wouldn't have
gotten into Yale if it wasn't for debate, and John
wouldn't have gotten into Stony Brooks either. So to hear
him say it anyway, right, I think he's probably any whatever.
(11:32):
But unfortunately our stories are not atypical. And I was
lucky to have to go to Stuyvesant, which is a
public school, but it's a specialized school. And many of
the specialized schools in New York do have debate programming,
but almost none of the title one that is, like
low income schools in New York offer that kind of
programming for their kids. And New York's not the exception here,
it's across the country. Like this is there's so much
(11:55):
money that goes into it in terms of like taking
kids to tournaments, hiring coaches, hiring judges, is like paying
for transportation and accommodations and you travel, and it's something
that unfortunately many folks who cannot mean, who have the means,
who can afford it, are giving their kids this opportunity
and the other kids are just being left out.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
How else do you see students approach conversations and approach
debate where you want to call it conversations or debate
in general, once they've participated in this advocating for things
or discussing things with people that may be difficult.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
Yeah, so this is what I'm proud of of. It's
great that the kids debate in high school and they
do really well, and they win trophies and they learn
how to be better readers and writers. Love all that.
But then beyond high school, what I have found as
an educator is that a disproportionate number of my debaters
have gone on to be educators themselves, which I think
is the best professional out there. You want to talk
(12:48):
about having an effect on the world, that's it. And
also we're seeing our kids, especially post twenty twenty, become
stronger and fiercer advocates. So, for example, one of my
students from Brooklyn Debate League two weeks ago posted on
his LinkedIn that tells you something about how they're already
starting to think right. Post it on his LinkedIn a
(13:09):
video of him giving a public hearing at City Hall
last month advocating for mental health centers in New York
City public schools. I didn't tell him to do that, right,
but he has said to me that being part of
speech and debate has helped him feel empowered to do
that because he knows how to use his voice and
he knows that it matters. So the kids are seeking
(13:29):
out places in their schools, in their communities and our
broader society where they're able to use their voices to
make a difference. And the story I often tell folks
when when they asked me, like, what would it look
like if this were done well and every kid had
access to this, We don't have to imagine because it happened,
And when the Parkland shooting happened in Florida a couple
of years ago, you probably remember everybody remembers how so
(13:53):
many of those students immediately took to town halls and
took to public protests. Some of them took to I
remember of them was arguing with Senator Mark or Rubio
and arguing with the NRA, like speaking fiercely about what
they thought needed to happen. And that's not a coincidence
because Broward County, Florida, where Parkland is, is one of
the few country the districts in the country that build
(14:15):
in speech and debate into their curriculum. So the kids
at Parkland had had speech and debate training built in
their public school curriculum. It wasn't a nice to have.
It wasn't an extracurricular. It was a curricular. And that's
what happens. I hate the fact that, you know, the
Parkland kids went through what they did, and that all
of our students are living through the times they're living
in right now, and there's a lot of stuff happening
(14:36):
that's stressing them out. But it feels like the least
that we can do is give them the tools they
need to know how to speak up about it.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
You have your program going on during the school year,
but you also have summer camp coming up. We are
airing in the middle of June. There is still some
time to check out what you have on offer for
this summer, So tell us a little bit about what
those opportunities are.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Yeah, we sure do so. If you know a rising
sixth through twelfth grader, we would love to work with
them this summer. We have an in person camp in
Brooklyn in July and then an online camp in August
for anybody that wants to come, and we'll be teaching kids,
middle school and high school kids the fundamentals of public speaking,
of debating, and we're also going to make it fun
(15:18):
for them because at Brooklyn Debate League. Hopefully you're getting
the vibe here. This is not one of those cutthroat
it's all about winning and that's the end here. No,
this is all about helping kids develop confidence and develop
community and understand that their voice matters. So we would
love to work with your students. If you know any
kids in the fifth current fifth graders through eleventh graders
rising sixth through twelfth, all the details are at Brooklyn
(15:40):
Debate League dot org slash camp.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
You can find out more about the summer programs, the
programs during the year, and ways to contribute at Brooklyndbate
League dot org. Our guest has been Kmdcalandria Deco, co
founder and executive director of Brooklyn Debate League. Thank you
for being on Get Connected.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
Thanks so much for having me Nina.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
This has been Get Connected with Nina del Rio on
one oh six point seven light Fm. The views and
opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the views
of the station. If you missed any part of our
show or want to share it, visit our website for
downloads and podcasts at one oh six to seven lightfm
dot com. Thanks for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!