Classic Debate Camp LD Houses

In 2022, the Lincoln-Douglas division added a new house system to Classic Debate Camp. The 45 LD campers were assigned to 4 different houses, named after 4 important individuals in the history of CDC: James Lewis, Jen Gonda, Natalie Schaller, and Edith Lui.

 

The objectives of the house system were to

1. increase collaboration among campers in different labs, since each house contained members of all 5 LD labs

2. give older campers opportunities to practice leadership

3. encourage younger campers to interact with and learn from older campers 

4. use LD division time more actively and productively

5. make our camp tournament more competitive and fun by having houses compete with each other for the House Cup.

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By all accounts, the new house system was a great success, fulfilling all five objectives. Because campers wanted more time to work with their housemates than just during division meetings, they organized their own prep sessions during evening office hours. During the camp tournament, house members got together and collaborated between rounds. After each round, campers paid close attention when house cup points were posted, and everyone cheered for their houses!

 

The first annual Classic Debate Camp LD House Cup was won by Edith House. Members of Edith House not only won 1st and 2nd place in the camp tournament, three of them also received Most Improved Lab Member awards. The staff advisor of Edith House was Olivia DeCesare. See photos of all four houses above and videos about the houses below.