The Uncommon Collegiate Charter High School (UCC) debate team is making waves in its very first year as part of the Brooklyn Debate League (BDL).
Laud Olufade, a junior, made history as one of two BDL rookies to qualify for the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Nationals, which will take place over Memorial Day weekend in Chicago. Since the team’s fall launch, Olufade has won first place at a local congressional debate and ranked in the top five at the Calvin Coolidge Open at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
“Debate is not about ‘You’re wrong, I’m right. It’s ‘I’m right, but here’s why’,” Olufade said. “I’m going to explain it to you in a way that’s thoughtful. I’m going to change your mind.”
Olufade isn’t the only UCC debater to do well in the team’s inaugural season. He, along with junior Mackenzie Pettiford and senior Alyssa Moye, qualified for the state championships in April.
For Pettiford, the debate season has been a whirlwind. Although she initially doubted her ability, the rookie debater grew more confident with each competition, holding her own against debaters with years of practice and private coaching under their belts.
“Confidence is the key to being good,” Pettiford said. “You have to know in your own mind that you can leave your impact on a topic.”
The UCC Debate team launched in October as part of the High School Student Talent program at Uncommon Schools NYC, and victories followed soon after. But these debaters don’t see their wins as beginner’s luck —they’ve put in the hard work: each member spends several hours each week researching, writing speeches, and practicing.
The UCC Debate team is part of a larger core initiative by Uncommon Schools, which has four high schools in Brooklyn, to give students the opportunity to explore their passions and interests, foster their talents, and find their purpose during their high school years.
Across all of Uncommon’s Brooklyn high schools and throughout the school day, students can explore 87 project-based courses in 55 unique content areas, from video production to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and take part in competitive teams like robotics and speech and debate.
Teachers like Marissa Bushlack serve as steadfast champions throughout the journey.
“They’ve come so far in their first year,” she said. “Watching them grow is such a gift.”
Brooklyn Debate League Coach Angie Lytle echoes the sentiment. A former state debate champion herself, Lytle visited the campus weekly to teach the team the fundamentals of congressional debate.
“At the beginning of the year, I had to teach them the format,” Lytle said. “They had to learn the speech structure. Then they had to learn about a topic in a short period of time, take out the big themes, and apply them to pieces of legislation.”
Students blossomed under Lytle’s guidance.
“It’s been a remarkable shift since October,” Lytle said. “We’ve moved past the basics. Now I’m able to work with Mackenzie on really high-level argumentation, and Laud’s improvement has really come from him knowing what to do and feeling confident enough to get up there and do it.”
Both students credit debate with helping them see the value of their voice.
“Debate has taught me that I’m an advocate,” Olufade said. “I want to speak to everyday injustice and get my and my people’s voices out there.”
Olufade plans for a career in diplomacy or politics.
Pettiford, an aspiring lawyer, added, “You don’t have to look a certain way to debate. Us being there [as black public school students from Brooklyn], by doing well, we’re changing the narrative.”
With only a few months left in the debate season, members of the UCC debate team are setting new goals. Olufade’s is to win a title at the national competition, while Pettiford’s is to complete her application for QuestBridge (a prestigious, full-ride scholarship for high-achieving students). The intense work required for both might dissuade others, but the rigors of the debate team have prepared these juniors to face the future with determination and confidence.
Bushlack knows that these wins are the first of many for her students. “I can’t wait for them to change the world,” she said.
For more information about Uncommon Schools NYC, please visit https://uncommonschools.org/nyc-enrollment/
