Summary: Donors provided $2,410 to help the La Crosse Central Debate Team cover travel and competition expenses.
Amount raised: $2,410 • School: Central High School • Sponsor Name: Benjamin Hamburger
About My Project: The Central Debate team has a long and proud history of competition in Wisconsin and regional debate. Policy debate is perhaps the most transformational extra-curricular activity schools can offer — students research topics deeply, develop critical thinking necessary to argue on your feet, and advocate for their passionately held beliefs as public speakers.
However, rising costs, stagnant activities budgets, and a decline in nearby tournaments have put a difficult cost burden on the existing budget to provide educational opportunities for Central’s debaters. Central is the only traveling debate team in western Wisconsin, so competition now often includes hotel costs, vehicle rentals or bus trips.
Now, Central has also qualified a team to the 2019 National Speech and Debate Association National Tournament in Dallas, TX! It will be the first time in some years that Central has qualified to Nationals, and costs will quickly outstrip the debate budget.
Where Your Donation Goes: Entry fees for debate tournaments, travel expenses including hotel, car rentals, bus fees, fuel expenses, especially for travel to local, regional (IA, MN, IL), and national competitions. For example, at the 2019 NSDA Nationals, total hotel costs will be $1,392, and flights will total $914, with registration costs of $400. (Local and regional tournament costs are substantially lower.)
The School District of La Crosse defrays $400 for each student who qualifies to a national tournament, and the Central High School Activities budget supplies $2,000 for the debate team each year. Previous funds have largely been exhausted
All donations to LPEF are tax-deductible and will be acknowledged via letter. LPEF adds a small surcharge to offset credit card processing fees and related expenses. For more details, go to our About Support-a-School page.
- If fundraising falls short of the goal, money will be used to fulfill as much of the project as feasible.
- If fundraising exceeds the goal, the project will be expanded or money will go to a similar purpose at the same school.
