ODI has run over a 15 workshops for students across the Greater Toronto Area reaching nearly 500 students. We have experience running lessons in both French and English, as well as for ESL students. For inquiries, please reach out to the following email: opendebateinitiative@gmail.com Teacher Testimonials: “The ODI workshop was an incredible learning experience for my students. The facilitators made themselves available to me from the very beginning of the planning stages, to the day of the workshop. They shared their lesson and were open to suggestions. Now that I know how well versed and experienced they are at teaching public speaking skills and building and supporting an argument, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again in the future. It was a pleasure working with the ODI facilitators, they were able to establish a great rapport with my students.” - Esther Um, Teacher, Central Technical School “Working with the Open Debate Initiative was incredible! They tailored programming for my specific class needs and accommodated our difficult scheduling demands. They were not only receptive to feedback, but relished opportunities to provide the most effective programming possible. My class enjoyed their workshops as it helped improve important transferable skills. Highly recommend!” - James Bencze, Teacher, Sir Wilfred Laurier C.I. Student Testimonials: “I really enjoyed the workshop. It was very engaging and an amazing experience. Our presenter was very kind and was an amazing speaker. Overall the workshop was great and I genuinely had a good time while learning new things.” (5 stars) “The most successful part was probably how it was so interactive. There was never a time I felt bored because I got to engage and communicate with my classmates through many fun activities, even though it was completely virtual.” (5 stars) “The ODI Workshop was awesome! It was presented in an engaging and fun way which made me take a different look at public speaking.” (5 stars)