The Young Leaders Conference: Texas Great Debate
Where Champions are Made and Leaders are Born
The Great Debate focuses on communication as a powerful tool of leadership. The Great Debate allows high school freshmen the opportunity to test and improve their written and verbal communication skills through organized discussions and debates about issues that impact today's Latino community. Students gain confidence in public speaking and an appreciation of communication as a powerful tool of leadership. Students gain experience creating content-rich arguments, communicating them through powerful, eloquent expression, and carefully analyzing the arguments presented by their peers.
After attending The Great Debate, students benefit from:
-Expanded written and verbal communication skills
-Increased knowledge of advanced vocabulary
-Greater confidence in seeking out and taking on leadership roles
-Increased knowledge and awareness of issues vital to the 21st century Latino community
How is YLC different from other leadership programs?
High school age youth who participate in leadership programs of the National Hispanic Institute participate in four areas of skill competency that begin in the 9th grade and continue through high school graduation. Participation in these four areas of development represents NHI’s initial first-step installment in widening and strengthening the base of leadership in US Latino community life. At the 9th grade level, the emphasis is placed on strengthening student communication skills and competencies through a leadership training format that also broadens participant knowledge and understanding of current Latino community issues and trends.
The debate structure employed by NHI allows teams of participants from different cities and regions of the nation to engage in healthy competition events that take place on different college campuses with similar age peers. Top performers receive special recognition for outstanding performance and are accorded the opportunity to compete at the national level. In addition to expanding the social network of students with peers who also value education, the experience of the Great Debate significantly improve student verbal skill development that invariably shows its value in their classroom performance and higher test scores on college entrance examinations. It is in understanding communications as an instrument for community change and advancement, however, that students gain important insight. For in realizing the role that communications plays in transmitting concepts to others that they also learn to appreciate this tool a fundamental requirement.
Further, as the most elite Hispanic leadership program in Texas, we can proudly say that:
• Over 66% of NHI Alumni plan to pursue graduate studies in medicine, law, business, communication and natural sciences.
• NHI continues to celebrate Over 28 Years of Latino leadership training.
• 98% of NHI Alumni enroll at 4-year colleges after graduating from high school
• Approximately 90% of all students complete their undergraduate degree within 4 to 5 years
Texas Great Debate: June 9-12, 2010 at Austin College
The 2010 Texas Great Debate competition of the Young Leaders Conference will be held June 9-12 at Austin College in Sherman, Texas. Leading up the competition, team members will be training with YLC alumni to prepare them for facing teams from across the state of Texas, including: San Antonio, the Rio Grande Valley, South Texas, Houston, Dallas, El Paso, and Corpus Christi. Team members will compete in several rounds of one of four competitions: Extemporaneous, Mock Trial, Oratory and Cross Examination. Based on the Great Debate competition, select team members will be invited to compete in the Texas Ambassadors competition at the University of Texas-Austin, July 29 to August 1.
If you would like to learn more about our programs, visit our Parent Information page or contact us to RSVP for the next orientation date!
