Minnesota Urban Debate League supply drive begins
More than 1,800 Twin Cities youth will walk into their first debate tournament of the season during the 2026-27 school year. To ensure there are no barriers to participate, the Minnesota Urban Debate League provides all the supplies youth need to begin. That means more youth can benefit from the academic skills debate brings, like argumentation, critical thinking, reading comprehension, and public speaking.
You can be part of preparing our students to succeed this debate season by supporting our Back-To-Debate supply drive. Our program team members specifically picked these items because they’re needed by youth in all of our programs – from high schoolers, to middle schoolers, to debaters speaking English or Spanish.
Here’s why we need these supplies:
Legal pads and pens
Debaters use these for “flowing” – a fast, structured way of taking notes that tracks every argument during a round. A single debate can fill pages. Blue, red, and black pens let debaters separate whose argument is whose at a glance.
Three-ring binders
These items hold each team member’s printed evidence. The evidence packet, which is curated by our program team, orients debaters to their season’s topic and challenges them to learn multiple angles of an issue.
Highlighters
These go hand in hand with evidence. These are used for “cutting cards”, which is the process of marking up printed evidence to pull out the exact quotes a student will use to support their arguments during a debate. Debaters go through highlighters the way students in regular classrooms go through pencils!
Colored paper
We use this item (in eye-catching colors for visibility) for the signage that keeps a tournament running, like directions, announcements, and schedules posted throughout a host school.
Granola bars
Debaters need brain food, and thanks to our donors, they have access to snacks at practices and tournaments. A snack between rounds keeps debaters focused instead of fading.
How you can help
Purchase items directly from our Amazon supply drive registry. They ship straight to us. Whatever item fits your budget, from a $2 pack of pens to buying a bulk box of granola bars, will be put to good use.
With your donation, you’ll empower Twin Cities youth to amplify their voices on the issues that matter most to them, building skills that matter along the way.
