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Kansas City's Urban Debate League Is Teaching Students To Talk Across The Divide

By Steve Kraske,

Mackenzie Martin

Published June 29, 2020 at 3:17 PM CDT

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Sumner Academy student Neymara Freeman, left, won Top Speaker in the 2019 Urban Debate National Championships in Washington.

At a time when our country appears more divided than ever, DEBATE-Kansas Cityteaches students how to research and talk about complicated issues with people on the opposing side.

Kansas City's urban debate league recently finished its 2020 season.

Corey Fisher, program director for DEBATE-Kansas City
Neymara Freeman, high school senior at Sumner Academy

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Steve Kraske

When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.

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Mackenzie Martin

Whether it’s something happening right now or something that happened 100 years ago, some stories don’t fit in the short few minutes of a newscast. As a podcast producer and reporter at KCUR Studios, I help investigate questions and local curiosities in a way that brings listeners along for adventures with plot twists and thought-provoking ideas. Sometimes there isn’t an easy answer in the end – but my hope is that we all leave with a greater understanding of the city we live in. Reach me at mackenzie@kcur.org.

See stories by Mackenzie Martin