Developing tomorrow's leaders
PEA’s Environmental Debate Program develops young environmental leaders with the skills, knowledge, and passion to become change-makers in the community. Each year, students debate a topic that addresses a key and current environmental issue, including solutions to the ongoing climate crisis.
PEA’s Debate Program recruits students to form their own debate teams in local high schools, giving students the opportunity to engage in competitive, academic debate on leading environmental issues. PEA partners with Wake Forest’s debate team to engage with student and teacher participants, and provide skills-training workshops, information packets, and research materials to any interested high school student in the Piedmont region. The culmination of the program is the annual one-day tournament, where students debate both sides of a controversial environmental topic.
High school teachers are invited to serve as advisors to student teams, and $100 mini grants are available to teacher advisors that bring 3 or more teams to participate. No experience is required for students or teachers, and PEA will work with you throughout the process to provide materials and assistance as needed through a comprehensive debate and research guide, optional training, and ongoing virtual support.
Program in partnership with Wake Debate 
Environmental Debate Proudly Sponsored By:
2025 Tournament Successes
Congratulations to the 1st place team from West Forsyth High School in Forsyth County:
Cheick Diarra and Nicholas Lord-Wolfe
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140 students debated "is small scale, organic farming superior to industrial agriculture in the United States?"
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Students represented 19 schools across Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Davie, and Davidson counties
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55 community judges volunteered their time, including Representative Kanika Brown, Mayor Pro Tempore D.D. Adams, and Winston-Salem Council Member Scott Andree-Bowen (pictured left to right)
Student Spotlight
"By using debate as a tool, PEA really brought to our attention many environmental issues, and gave us academic and citizenship skills that many of us simply hadn't been exposed to."
Rohan Kapileshwari, a sophomore at Atkins High School, had never participated in debate before signing up for the PEA Environmental Debate Tournament in 2016. He and his partner Ethan Austin won the debate semi-finals on March 12, 2016 and went on to win the final round of the tournament at the Piedmont Earth Day Fair on April 23, 2016. After participating in the PEA Debate Program, Rohan went on to participate and win a statewide debate tournament and participated in a national debate competition.
"I think the most important thing I learned by doing the environmental debate - I’ve done it the past four years - I think that overall it’s made me a lot more aware of issues that are going on in my local community as well as in the nation, globally, just being more aware of social and environmental issues that affect all of us."
"I’ve never actually debated before, so this was my first experience debating. I’ve learned that it’s a lot about knowing what to say before you get on stage, but you also want to know what the opposing team is going to say. So through the research, I found out arguments on both sides, and I knew how to refute both those arguments, and I think that let me have the most success in my refuting and my opening statement."