Debate to Educate and The Mars Society Present: Mars or Bust! International Junior World School Styles. $1000 IN CASH PRIZES!

Having trouble registering on tabroom? Fill out this form, and we will create tabroom accounts for your team and complete the registration process for you!

Visit our website at debatetoeducate.com to learn more!

For questions or concerns, please email debatetoeducate@gmail.com

Debate to Educate is a non profit organization whose mission is to make debate accessible and empowering on a world-wide scale. By creating a global community united in the spirit of competition and exploration, we aim to build a more empathetic and knowledgeable generation of learners and leaders everywhere. Our tournaments are available to all middle school/high school students on earth.

The Mars Society is the world’s largest and most influential space advocacy organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. Established in 1998, the group works to educate the public, the media and the government on the benefits of exploring Mars and creating new branches of human civilization on the Red Planet.

From September 30^th/October 1^st, The Mars Society and Debate to Educate will pair up for a one time only spectacular event! Teams from all over the world will debate some of the most crucial scientific questions of our time, competing for a chance to perform virtually in a final round at the Mars Society Convention in front of an audience of some of the greatest minds in the field of space exploration! We will be offering $1000 in cash prizes, to be distributed amongst the top 2 teams of each division.

We will match competitors in ANY time zone, so that all debaters may compete at a reasonable time between Saturday, September 30^th and Sunday, October 1^st. Check out our schedule to see how!

Our tournament will be practicing World School Styles. All debates will be in English. Teams are not required to be from the same school. Each team may consist of 3-5 debaters.

We will be hosting both Middle School and High School students!

Middle school teams must have an average age of under 15 years old. Each speaker should speak for 5 minutes in order to avoid time penalties. Each speaker is required to accept a minimum of 2 POIs.

High school teams must have an average age of under 19 years old. Each speaker should speak for 7 minutes in order to avoid time penalties. Each speaker is required to accept a minimum of 2 POIs.

Our motions for the tournament are as follows:

1. This House Believes there is life on Mars

2. This House Believes Mars would best be explored through robots (as opposed to humans).

3. This house believes the settlement of Mars should be led by private companies, and not by governments.

4. This house believes the first human mission to Mars should be a no-return mission.

5. This house believes humans should attempt to terraform Mars.

We are asking for a donation of $50 per team whenever possible, though our first goal is accessibility. All donations will go directly to covering the cost of the tournament, and any remaining donations will be given away as additional prize money! If your team will require a fee waiver to participate, simply email debatetoeducate@gmail.com, and we will accommodate you!

We will be awarding $1000 in cash prizes. Additionally, our prize pool will increase for every team that pays the $50 entrance fee. Below are the minimum prize distributions:

High School First Place: $400

High School Second Place: $200

Middle School First Place: $300

Middle School Second Place: $100

All competitors will be first waitlisted, so that they may be asked to sign our release form. This is automatic, and it does not reflect your standing in our tournament. We will try to accommodate all teams that register.