April 22, 2009 Bay State Banner: Students prep for national debate Play video

(NECN: Boston, Mass.) - A high school student joined the debate team and says the extracurricular activity changed her life. She says it helped her reading skills, her ability to analyze things, her vocabulary and her grades.

The prestigious Chase Urban Debate National Championship is this coming weekend in Chicago. The league typically invites only one school from each urban league, but that wasn't the case this year.

Click here to read more from the Bay State Banner's Web site.

Boston Public Schools will send two schools to the competition -- Josiah Quincy Upper School and the Academy of Public Service.

Executive Editor Howard Manly joins NECN for a discussion.