Jul 10, 2023 At 11:08 AM EDT
Lorenis Nova never knows exactly how many students will be in class throughout the year. At the Boston International Newcomers Academy, a program known as BINcA within Boston International High School, students "come and go" during the school year through rolling admissions.
"They don't necessarily stay here for a traditional journey of four years in high school; some kids are going to come and leave in two months," Nova, a family liaison for BINcA told Newsweek, adding that the school has new students "basically every day."
The school is a haven for students who are recent immigrants to the United States with limited English proficiency or gaps in their formal education, but the quick turnover makes it difficult for students to feel connected to and engaged with the school and the curriculum, Nova said.
One way BINcA has been able to combat that issue is through its Debate en Español program, an after-shcool Spanish-language debate team that allows non-native English speakers to research and craft arguments about the pressing policy issues society faces today.
"We totally value culture and language as an international school 100 percent for immigrant students who are learning English as a second language," Nova said. "I knew this was going to be a way to motivate and engage many students who did not necessarily fit the criteria or profile of a typical debater."
The Boston Debate League has been operating a Debate en Español program for about a decade to provide immigrant and Spanish-speaking students the opportunity to develop their language skills and engage in the civic discourse debate provides to English speakers, Roger Nix, the BDL's assistant director of after-school debate, told Newsweek.
The program was introduced at BINcA in 2015 when Nova was approached by another debate coach to teach the new team. Coaching has not always been easy, as she had no prior debate experience herself, but it's the students who keep Nova coming back after eight seasons.
"Every time I say I'm going to quit and let someone else do it, I end up coming back," she said. "It's because of the students and because of the family that we have built over the years."
In 2021, there were 398 students enrolled in Boston International High School and the Newcomers Academy from ninth to twelfth grade, according to data from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
There were 471 students enrolled in the 2022-2023 school year, with about 99 percent classified as "first language not English" and about 95 percent classified as English language learners. Over 60 percent of students this year are Hispanic.
At the start of this year, Nova said the team only had one student, as many debaters had graduated the previous year. But by June, there were eight students from a mix of grades.
Nova added that the school really cares about the Debate en Español program because administrators know that "every penny" that is put into debate will be returned to the school.
"Students are going to excel in the classrooms, the students are going to come to school every day," she said. "These are kids who are going to stand up and talk in front of others and say, 'I care about my school, I want it to remain open. I want it to be available for others.'"
Guelinton Ramos is a rising senior who has three years of Debate en Español experience. He started at BINcA at the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020. As a non-native English speaker going to school entirely online, Ramos said he had difficulty making friends and feeling confident speaking up in class.
When Nova approached him to join the Spanish-language debate team, everything changed.
"It was amazing because I started to learn about new topics like climate change and how climate change is affecting us right now," Ramos said.
Ramos is now a leader on the team and considered a friend and mentor for those new to debate, like Jose Angel Solval.
Solval is a rising junior who started debating last year. His history teacher encouraged him to join the Debate en Español team, and he "fell in love with it."
Debate gave Solval something to do after school and allowed him to be part of a smaller community within the school.
"Debate has taught me how to really understand topics that I didn't understand before," he said, as translated from Spanish by Nova. "It allowed me to see a new topic, analyze the pros and cons and [understand] what it was and how it affects me as a member of my community."
Nova said the debate program continues to inspire students to achieve their full potential through opportunities in and out of the classroom.
"We keep talking about leaders from 50, 100 years ago who make a difference—and history has books that were written about amazing people—but we don't know who's making history now," she said. "Like today is a day when many students are facing challenges that no one has ever faced in history. And debate gives them an opportunity to understand that they can deal with it. They can cope with the issues and the challenges that they are facing."
Ramos said debate helped him to find his voice as a self-described environmental and immigration activist. Through debate, Ramos was able to be a part of the Boston Mayor's Youth Council, which "connects, engages, and empowers Boston's diverse youth through government and civic participation," according to the mayor's office.
The program, Nova said, allows students to "explore their passions" and "learn how to make a difference."
As an environmentalist, Ramos learned about climate and immigration issues and how they are impacting the Boston community in order to be an advocate for change within different mayoral office departments.
Ramos credits debate for making him understand that his voice matters and giving him the skills to express himself.
"If you wish [for society] to change, you have to be the change first," he said. "If you want to change something, you have to start to change. It has to start with you. And then society will change."
He also took a debate class at Suffolk University through a partnership with the BDL in which students participated in dual enrollment to earn college credits. Ramos created his own case surrounding cybersecurity, phishing attacks and the government.
Debate can also help with something as simple as giving students a purpose and a sense of belonging.
Raulina Rodriguez is a former BINcA debater who returned to the school as an assistant debate coach and tutor. She was a self-described "quiet girl" before Debate en Español took her out of her comfort zone to a place where she felt comfortable talking to other people and expressing her own thoughts.
She admits that debate not only provided a boost to her confidence, it kept her enrolled in school.
"I was feeling like I want to drop out of school, I didn't want to continue school," she said. "Debate was the only thing that kept me so motivated because it was the thing that I enjoyed the most. It helped me build a community, helped me build a second family and get to know other amazing people that I still connect with today."
Having that support system after school and during weekend tournaments pushed her through hard times to graduation, and her engagement with political issues at a young age inspired her to pursue a law career.
"We're not something that's going to pop up and disappear at different times and [at] random moments in someone's life," Nova said. "I think [debate] stays with you from beginning to end."
The BINcA team frequently competes at the local level at tournaments in the BDL circuit, something Nova said they all take "very seriously."
They also traveled to Minnesota earlier this year to face their first out-of-state competition against the Minnesota Urban Debate League's Debate en Español team. Nova said the trip was a chance for the students to learn, bond as a team and have an opportunity they would not have had otherwise.
"They like to win their trophies, and so do I. But there's a social component to debate that goes beyond that," Nova said. "We like to make sure that we eat together, we play together, we go places together, and we make memories together. I think that's the reason why I'm so hooked on debate."
Before debate, both Ramos and Solval felt alone and out of place at their new school. Ramos said he didn't have any friends and "didn't talk to nobody."
But that all changed once they became debate partners. Besides the academic impacts and extracurricular opportunities, they both said debate made it easier for them to meet people with similar interests.
Solval described Ramos as "one of the best" debaters and debate partners he's had, but more importantly, one of his best friends. As debaters, Solval said he and Ramos "speak the same language."
Whether they are speaking English, Spanish or "debate," Nova is confident that her students will be better off because of the Debate en Español program.
"There's a lot that we can do as educators, community organizers and leaders to teach our students that no matter what language you speak, your voice matters," she said. "And what truly matters is what comes out of your mind [and] what comes out of your heart."
Correction 7/10/23, 11:07 a.m. ET: This article was updated to refer to Lorenis Nova as a coach instead of as a teacher.
