MOCK TRIAL & DEBATE
Yavneh supports a variety of activities that promote hands-on experience in research, public speaking, persuasion, and strategic decision-making.
The mock trial team has competed against and defeated numerous large public high school teams, although the goal is not to win. The goal is to facilitate the growth of individual students and prepare them to work with and support others, to be knowledgeable citizens acquainted with the legal system and to be community leaders working for the betterment of humanity. The team is under the leadership of Dallas attorneys (and Yavneh parents) Warren Abrams and Harry Saginaw.
Members of the Yavneh Debate Team learn the format of a formal debate (i.e., first affirmative, second negative, etc.), terminology of academic debate (i.e. resolved, status quo, etc.), and how a debater prepares for a debate with extensive research.
Students have the opportunity to use debate skills in both intra- and inter-school debates, and each year the Yavneh Debate Team travels to New York to compete. During the past four seasons, Yavneh has reached the championship round of the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy Tournament in New York and had at least one team go 3-0 each year, had students finish among the top three speakers in that tournament three of the past four years, won the Lone Star Debate Tournament two times, and finished second and third at the Novice Round Robin.
