2016 Winter Rostrum

Rostrum A PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL SPEECH & DEBATE ASSOCIATION

VOLUME 90 ISSUE 3 WINTER 2016

#unexpectedvoices #voicesofthefuture

WORLD SPEECH DAY MARCH 15!

PURPOSE “Celebrating speeches and speech making across the world, with live events that bring to life the power of speeches to share ideas.”

See page 67 for ways to get involved!

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE • Board Election Year • Sneak Peek at #Nats16 • Introducing Evidence-Based Argumentation (EBATM) • POI-fect Beginnings • And More!

THE BILL OF RIGHTS INSTITUTE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATIONAL SPEECH & DEBATE ASSOCIATION, OFFERS THE

20I6

STUDENT FREE SPEECH ONLINE ORATORY COMPETITION

CAMPUS CRACKDOWN

HAS TODAY’S CULTURE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS GONE TOO FAR? STUDENTS ENTER BY SUBMITTING A YOUTUBE VIDEO ADDRESSING THE PROMPT IN 6 MINUTES OR LESS! The top six videos will make finals.

First place earns a $2,500 CASH SCHOLARSHIP and a scholarship to the INSTITUTE’S CONSTITUTIONAL ACADEMY program in Washington, DC from July 10-16, 2016.

Students not competing can also sign up to vote for the final round, becoming eligible for one of ten $50 GIFT CARDS JUST FOR VOTING for the video you think is most persuasive.

Registration opens January 11, 2016, and the contest closes March 6, 2016.

SIGN UP:

www.billofrightsinstitute.org /engage/studentsprograms-events/debate-competitions/

NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR 2016

The University of Texas National Institute in Forensics is one of the largest and most successful summer speech and debate workshops in the country. UTNIF has a reputation for engaging students from across the nation in the kind of training that leads rather than follows performative and argumentative trends. UTNIF students have won championships and final rounds at the National Speech and Debate Association national tournament in Extemp, Humorous Interp, Dramatic Interp, Poetry, the House, the Senate, Policy Debate, Public Forum, and more. Our students consistently excel at the TOC and NIETOC. Join us this summer and see for yourself why UTNIF has made such an impact on speech and debate education for over 20 years.

2016 UTNIF Program Dates Individual Events main session

June 25 – July 9

Individual Events with extension

June 25 – July 13

CX 6 Week Summer Survivors

June 23 – August 4

CX Session 1 (Skills Intensive, Advanced Topic Intensive, Sophomore Select) CX Session 2 (Skills Intensive, Advanced Topic Intensive, Novice) Public Forum (all skill levels accommodated) Lincoln Douglas (all skill levels accommodated) Lincoln Douglas with extension

June 23 – July 13 July 15 – August 4 June 22 – July 4 July 17 – July 31 July 17 – August 4

For complete information on UTNIF Individual Events workshops, please visit www.utspeech.net For complete UTNIF debate camp information, please visit www.utdebatecamp.com UTNIF Contact: jvreed@austin.utexas.edu *please check our websites for final dates and program info.

le Schednu a n! auditio Western Kentucky University

Brian Anderson and Andrea Ambam, class of 2019.

THIS IS WKU FORENSICS To the University, Forensics is an opportunity to demonstrate academic excellence, to excel in competition of the intellect, and to extend the academic atmosphere. To the student, Forensics is an opportunity to cultivate life-long friendships, travel the country, and do what you love.

WKU remains the only team in the history of collegiate forensics to win the American Forensics Association team sweepstakes, the National Forensics Association (NFA) Individual Events team sweepstakes and the NFA Debate team sweepstakes all in the same year, a feat which it has now accomplished nine times. Last year, WKU won its 25th consecutive state championship title.

UNITY • LEADERSHIP • INNOVATION • DISCIPLINE • GRATITUDE

WKU Forensics; Ganer Newman 1906 College Heights Blvd. #51084 Bowling Green, KY 42101-1084 phone: 270-745-6340

email: ganer.newman@wku.edu www.wkuforensics.com Follow us on Twitter: @wkuforensics

In this Issue : Volume 90 : Issue 3 : WINTER 2016

Features

Inside

8

Seven Seek Board Election in 2016

4

From the Editor

14

2015 National Winners Update

5

Current Topics

42

POI-fect Beginnings by Randall McCutcheon

34

Curriculum Corner

59

Bringing Evidence-Based Argumentation (EBATM ) to the Nation

36

What We’re Reading

51

National Speech & Debate Association Joins 21st Century Learning Coalition

Diamond Coach Recognition

74

World Speech Day is March 15!

Support National Speech & Debate Education Day

Donus D. Roberts Quad Ruby Coach Recognition

75

International Competition Heats Up for USA Debate by Liz Yount

Triple Ruby Coach Recognition

76

Coach Profile: Karina Momary

78

District in Detail: Sagebrush (NV)

80

National Tournament Preview

Alumni Spotlight: Robert Ickes

88

Student Service Citations

19

Meet the 2016 Local Host Committee

98

Academic All Americans

20

Overview of High School Tournament Logistics

101

Welcome New Schools

23

Salt Lake City Venue Guide

111

District Standings

26

Salt Lake City Hotel Guide

28

Salt Lake City Transportation Guide

31

Overview of Middle School Tournament Logistics

59 67 71 84

Opinion – The Unanticipated Consequences of Paperless Debate by Michael Greenstein, Ed.D.

102 In Memoriam – Alfred Charles Snider

Like us on Facebook /speechanddebate

Share with us on Instagram /speechanddebate

Follow us on Twitter @speechanddebate

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 3

From the Editor

Board of Directors

A phrase we’ve adopted this year at the National Speech & Debate Association is Voices of the Future, or #voicesofthefuture for the social among us. As we work toward strategic goals, we are constantly reminded that our efforts to build a strong and inclusive community, advocate on behalf of school-based speech and debate programs, increase student access to the activity, and support the profession of speech and debate coaching all revolve around two things: giving rise to the voices of youth, and helping youth prepare those voices for personal, professional, and civic purposes in the future.

We recently announced our partnership with the Boston Debate League to become the national provider of Evidence-Based Argumentation (EBATM), which enables teachers to give youth a voice throughout a school district. This innovative program brings the 21st century skills of critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, questioning, and problem solving to classrooms school-wide. Currently, the NSDA is approaching school districts across the county to add EBATM and speech and debate programs to their high schools and middle schools. Growing our community of schools and competitors will also grow your membership, and the national profile of speech and debate. To learn more about the benefits of these debate-centric tools, check out the feature on page 59.

We’ve also secured support from Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa as lead co-sponsor of a Senate resolution designating March 15, 2016, as National Speech & Debate Education Day as part of the firstever World Speech Day. We need your help to generate support for the resolution from your state’s U.S. senators! I invite you to turn to page 67 to see how you and your team can get involved in our grassroots campaign, and bring attention to #unexpectedvoices across the world.

2016 is an exciting election year, and the time to be actively involved in the democratic process of electing our leaders has never been more important. Voter engagement in the early primary and caucus states is at historic levels, and we’ve developed a lot of activities to help students engage in the election cycle available at www.speechanddebate.org/voicesofthefuture. We welcome you, as coaches, to also engage in the process of choosing your National Speech & Debate Association leadership. Seven individuals aspire to major roles in our organization as members of the National Board of Directors. To read the candidates’ statements, along with Board responsibilities and voting procedures, see page 8.

Finally this month, we are thrilled to offer our sneak peek at the 2016 National Speech & Debate Tournament. Our local hosts welcome you on page 19, followed by important information about lodging, transportation, schedules, and more. We hope you will join us in Salt Lake City this June!

Sincerely,

Rostrum A PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL SPEECH & DEBATE ASSOCIATION 125 Watson Street, PO Box 38, Ripon, WI 54971-0038 | Phone (920) 748-6206 | Fax (920) 748-9478

Vicki Pape, Assistant Editor Emily Bratton, Graphic Design Assistant

SUBSCRIPTION PRICES Individuals: $15 for one year | $25 for two years Member Schools: $15 for each additional subscription

(USPS 471-180) (ISSN 1073-5526) Rostrum is published quarterly (Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring) by the National Speech & Debate Association, 125 Watson Street, PO Box 38, Ripon, WI 54971. Periodical postage paid at Ripon, WI 54971. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to National Speech & Debate Association, 125 Watson Street, PO Box 38, Ripon, WI 54971.

Rostrum provides a forum for the speech and debate community. The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily the opinions of the Association, its officers, or its members. The National Speech & Debate Association does not guarantee advertised products and services unless sold directly by the Association.

4

Rostrum | WINTER 2016

Pam Cady Wycoff, Vice President Apple Valley High School 14450 Hayes Road Apple Valley, MN 55124-6796 (952) 431-8200 Pam.Wycoff@district196.org Polly Reikowski, Ph.D., Admin Rep Eagan High School 4185 Braddock Trail Eagan, MN 55123 (651) 683-6902 polly.reikowski@district196.org Kandi King 6058 Gaelic San Antonio, TX 78240 (210) 641-6761 mamakjking@yahoo.com Dr. Tommie Lindsey, Jr. James Logan High School 1800 H Street Union City, CA 94587 (510) 471-2520, Ext. 4408 Tommie_Lindsey@nhusd.k12.ca.us Pamela K. McComas PO Box 5078 Topeka, KS 66605 (785) 231-7414 pmccomas1434@gmail.com

J. Scott Wunn Executive Director

J. Scott Wunn, Editor and Publisher

Don Crabtree, President Park Hill High School 1909 6th Avenue St. Joseph, MO 64505 (816) 261-2661 crabnfl@gmail.com

David Huston Colleyville Heritage High School 5401 Heritage Avenue Colleyville, TX 76034 (817) 305-4700, Ext. 214 david.huston@gcisd.net James W. “Jay” Rye, III The Montgomery Academy 3240 Vaughn Road Montgomery, AL 36106 (334) 272-8210 jay_rye@montgomeryacademy.org Jennifer Jerome Millard West High School 5710 S. 176th Avenue Omaha, NE 68135 (402) 715-6000 (school office) (402) 715-6092 (classroom) jjerome1984@gmail.com

Topics

Current topics and resources are available at:

www.speechanddebate.org/topics

2016-2017 Policy Debate Topic CHINA — Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its economic and/or diplomatic engagement with the People’s Republic of China.

Among the possible areas could be: Reforming segments of U.S./China trade; working with China to increase respect for human rights; working with China to better understand and manage its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea and other parts of Asia; how to work with China to best mitigate ongoing concerns over Taiwan; how to work with China to ensure sustainable energy and resource policies; how best to protect indigenous groups within China; how best to handle ongoing concerns over Tibet; how best to work together on the threat posed by world terrorism and many others. Given the amount of literature on the topic, and the number of policy experts opining about China—teams can be assured of finding case ideas in a wide range of areas, with novel and unique affirmatives being proposed by policy experts almost monthly. The topic’s literature base ensures a dynamic range of case options. Negatives will have ample ground to explore the solvency of diplomatic or economic engagement; the effects of changes in China policy on surrounding Asian nations; the implications for U.S. allies in the region should any change to U.S. policy toward China occur and the effect of change on the U.S. in light of its other national interests and obligations. Case specific disadvantages, again, given the literature base, will move beyond the generic, allowing for case advantages to be weighed by countervailing arguments—including arguments pertaining to the crack-down on rights within China; land use arguments, and specific species protection disadvantages; implications for China/Taiwan relations; labor specific disadvantages; and disadvantages dealing with economic issues specific to plan action (inflation, currency collapse, etc.), all directly related to case specific action in China. Counterplan and Kritik ground will be fertile with both case specific and generic arguments in play. There will be plenty of case specific debate, given the literature base on the topic and the number of international experts who write on China. There will be no shortage of clashing ideas on how best to engage China, giving teams many possibilities to find proposals for action directly counter to the affirmative. These clashing ideas would affect debate over specific solvency options and case specific advantages. With China rising in stature on the national stage, the resolution is educational, timely, and necessary to debate.

INTERP: Online publishing sources

Submissions for online publishing sources for the 2016-2017 school year will be accepted November 1 through March 1. To access the application form and view the list of approved websites for the current school year, visit www.speechanddebate.org/approvedwebsites.

MARCH 2016

Public Forum Debate

Resolved: The United States should withdraw its military presence from Okinawa.

MARCH/APRIL 2016

Lincoln-Douglas Debate

Resolved: The United States ought to promote democracy in the Middle East.

2015–2016

Policy Debate

Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially curtail its domestic surveillance.

Send us your suggestions for PF topic areas and LD resolutions!

Access the online submission forms by visiting our website: www.speechanddebate.org/topics

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 5

Dear Administrator, About nine years ago, I was walking around the East Mountain High School campus with the coach of our small speech and debate team, Trey Smith, who told me he thought his team was growing and going to be very good. We are a small rural school east of Albuquerque that also was considered a “small” school in New Mexico Speech and Debate.

At that time, I asked Trey questions: was he serious, did he want to take the next step, and did he have parental support? Not surprisingly, his answers were largely that he thought he did, so we decided that day that we needed to host a tournament and place ourselves on the map. Trey determined quickly the time of year for a statewide event, and we promoted it to ensure that our judges lived the experience to become future supporters of the program. I knew I needed to judge and check in with as many EMHS students as possible.

It was our belief that the more and impressive support we could provide the program, the more quickly our students would understand taking this program seriously. We held our first event, and it raised sufficient funds to help our poorer students afford entry fees in their own events, thus meeting another important goal: access to all.

Our students became competitive with larger schools, some six times the size of ours. That fact encouraged our students to push harder, so when it came time for Trey to set his goals for the coming year, he sought to be number two in the state. I told him that his goal had to be number one and assured him that if he were number three, he would still have a job!! The point was that we owed our students an expectation of the best, and he needed to commit to that ideal.

Trey was soon able to strategize with the team in terms of probability, not hope. For example, he met with his debate group to discuss how individual students would improve their performance, not if. They began to win tournaments and prepare for state with the belief it was possible. Students worked after school and weekends, efforts they might not have made had it not been for the determination that we would be number one. When the bus left at 4:00 a.m., I told the students one thing: I want to see you one last time before you return as state champions.

Yes, our team won the state championship three consecutive times, but more importantly, it established a school-wide intellectual and academic pride. Simultaneously, we were working on some curricular reform and college readiness goal setting. As a result of the “speech and debate attitude,” earned dual credits increased 800%, ACT scores increased an average of three points, and scholarship dollars offered doubled in three years.

A school board member claimed recently that speech and debate is our football, a source of earned pride. It shows that in a state in which educational successes are few, we can commit to our best, which can sometimes be the best. In 2013, www.niche.com declared East Mountain High School the best high school in New Mexico.

Our lesson: if you want a high impact, academic culture-enhancing program, commit to speech and debate.

Sincerely,

Douglas S. Wine, Ed.D. Former Principal, East Mountain High School National Speech & Debate Association Principal of the Year, 2013

Find this and other advocacy materials on our website:

www.speechanddebate.org/advocate 6

Rostrum | WINTER 2016

West Coast Publishing THE ULTIMATE PACKAGE includes all 4 sets listed below

Affs, DAs, CPs, Ks Monthly updates

Every NSDA & UIL Topic, Values, Philosophers

Extemp Articles, PubForum Pro & Con

Textbooks, Teacher Materials, Dictionary

Go to www.wcdebate.com More Info, Previews, Online & Printable Order Form at the Website

Climb the Mountain Speech & Debate Camp Policy, LD, Public Forum July 25 - 30, 2016

Congress Debate Session

July 25-27, 2016

Individual Events Session

July 28-30, 2016

For Students and also specialized courses for coaches

Outstanding Lab Leaders, Individual Attention Drills, Practice Debates and Presentations Beautiful Location, Modern Classrooms Family Feel, Great Value

Held at Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA

Go to: www.climbthemountain.us/camp.htm More Info, Lab Leaders, Registration, Prices at the web site.

Seven Seek Board Election in 2016 This April, the National Speech & Debate Association will once again hold its biennial election, which will choose four directors to serve on the national Board of Directors and establish an order for alternates. The four elected directors will each serve a four-year term.

For an overview of Board responsibilities, see page 12.

Voting, via electronic balloting, will be made available to all member schools in April 2016.

Each provisional, member, and charter chapter shall be provided the opportunity to vote via electronic balloting. The candidates’ names will appear in an order drawn by lot and on which the school shall vote for four candidates. A chapter’s active members and degrees (total strength) on record in the national office on May 1, 2016, shall determine the number of votes it is allotted. A charter chapter will be granted the number of votes equal to its total strength. Provisional and member chapters shall be granted the number of votes equal to one-half its total strength.

The order that candidates appear in this Rostrum and on the ballot were determined in separate drawings conducted by Finance Director Carol Zanto.

Voting concludes April 29, 2016.

Results will be announced online in May 2016.

The following columns are unedited and provided exactly as submitted by each candidate.

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Rostrum | WINTER 2016

Christopher McDonald Eagan High School Minnesota I have coached high school interscholastic debate and speech for the past 27 years and cannot think of anything I enjoy more than teaching high school students critical thinking as well as performance-based skills. In addition to coaching, I have served the forensic community in many capacities at both the state and national levels.

I have worked extensively with the NSDA in multiple capacities including serving as a member of our District Committee and for 10 years as its chairperson, working in the tab room at Nationals, leading a committee on Extemporaneous Speaking, and serving as the alternate member on the NSDA Board for two years.

In addition to my leadership roles in the NSDA, I have served as our state’s fine arts representative on the Minnesota State High School Leagues Board of Directors for four years. During this time, I have helped our state to adopt time limits in speech that match national standards as well as more important issues like the equal treatment of transgender students in athletics and fine arts activities. As a member of our state debate coaches association, the Minnesota Debate Teachers Association, I have helped our organization in the management of funds to provide grants to new programs. Throughout all of these opportunities to serve, I have always kept one thing in mind: how we can improve our activity to better serve everyone wishing to participate.

As a coach and program director, one of my true passions is developing resources, which enable new coaches and programs to succeed. I believe the NSDA can do a better job of cultivating new programs and coaches through a program of mentorship, not just in coaching events but also, just as importantly, in team management. In my experience, one of the issues that drive new young coaches out of forensics is frustration with how to manage a team in every area from cultivating administrative support to building an effective parent support group. We need to establish an outreach program designed to assist new coaches with team management. By taking this step, I feel we would do a better job retaining coaches and hopefully slow down the revolving door of coaches at programs that inevitably leads us to lose programs and opportunities for students.

Thank you for considering my candidacy for the NSDA Board of Directors.

2016 Board Election

Jennifer M. Jerome

Pam Cady Wycoff

Millard West High School Nebraska

Apple Valley High School Minnesota

Two years ago, when Teresa Fester, my dear friend and colleague from Sioux Falls O’Gorman put the bug in my ear to run for the Board, I thought, “What could I possibly bring to the table?” What I’ve thankfully learned is that there is much I can bring, have brought, and want to continue to bring to the table. Not only did my friend encourage me to question, but other Board members encouraged me to be me and bring my own perspective, which was exciting. This has strengthened my desire to continue to represent your voices.

When in Dallas, we all learned a new four letter word—elevator. While not necessarily a task anyone wanted to take on, I believe my flight attendant skills proved to move the lines along in a favorable way. In all seriousness, the work put into making the National Tournament a success is truly one of the best learning experiences. It was my honor to serve in the capacity I did.

Because of my prior experience with tabulating at the middle school tournament, I brought insight to fostering a strong middle school membership and tournament. If you haven’t been to the middle school award ceremony, you should. It’s a complete joy!

Most importantly I want to continue fulfilling my passion to serve the speech and debate community. I always tell my competitors, “The success you achieve is directly proportional to the effort you place in the preparation of your participation.” When I think back to the preparation and effort I’ve put in for the NSDA Board of Directors, there has been much work done over the last two years and I know there is more to do. I have heard from and continue to hear from so many of you and I love that. I want to continue to be your voice at the table.

I humbly ask for your support to help guide me to make the best possible decisions for the past, present, and future of the NSDA. I would be honored to continue sitting at the table to serve this organization and its member schools and coaches.

For the past 12 years, I have had the privilege of serving you as a member of the Board of Directors, and for the past four years as Vice President. My commitment to Speech and Debate has never wavered. In fact, with each year, I believe it has grown even deeper.

Over the years, I’ve often heard administrators or school board members, those who hold the fate of Speech and Debate programs in their hands, justify a decision by saying, “It’s not personal—it’s business.” Yes, objectivity is important, but this approach forgets that every decision impacts people and programs—and that is very personal. As decision-makers, it is our obligation to put ourselves in the shoes of those we serve— listening to their voices and understanding the reality of their needs.

Given my involvement in this activity for 36 years, I understand the reality of “what we do.” For 10 years I coached at a rural private school of 200 students before moving to a public suburban school of 1,800 students. I have coached and value Speech, Debate, and Congress.

I know what it’s like to “do it all.” Like you, I know the reality of teaching all day and beginning another full time coaching job after school. I have fundraised year-round— and it has never lived up to the first three letters—“fun.”

I understand the challenges of an ever-evolving socioeconomic climate. My classroom is racially diverse. Over one in three students is on free and reduced lunch.

What we do is personal. For that reason, I will always prioritize a member-centered approach to “doing business.” Like you, I am a believer in the power of Speech and Debate to transform lives. For that reason, we must continually advocate for middle and high school Speech and Debate. I yearn for the day that the Speech and Debate team is considered as important as the football team—and when a coach leaves or retires, administrators won’t think twice about finding a replacement to keep the program alive. This may not occur in my lifetime, but I welcome that challenge. After all, it was Margaret Mead who said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”

Together WE are strong. I would be very grateful for the opportunity to continue to serve OUR community.

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 9

2016 Board Election

Timothy E. Sheaff

Dr. Tommie Lindsey, Jr.

Dowling Catholic High School Iowa

James Logan High School California

For the past decade or so, I have had the distinct pleasure of standing on the stage on the final days of that year’s National Tournament and reading the names of students, coaches, schools, and supporters. While that ceremony can be lengthy, all those names are only a fraction of the people that this organization touches.

And while the names I get to announce are indeed worthy of recognition and celebration, so are the tens of thousands of student members who experience the GREAT and GRAND little victories that come from working hard and doing their best to use their voice.

As an active classroom teacher and coach, I know as well as you that Speech and Debate may really make the largest difference for the student who might never hear some emcee say their name.

I was a student member in the mid-80s and was fortunate to have a great coach. The activity changed my life. When I accidentally landed in education, I started a program at a small all-girls boarding school in Illinois. When my young and growing family decided to move back to our roots in Iowa I founded and coached a couple of programs in the Des Moines metro area (I watched two of those programs cease to exist once I left, so I know what that is like.) I was next given the chance to coach at my alma mater, and now 19 years later, I am still here, directing plays, coaching speech and debate, teaching, and generally being a high school educator. Five of my own children are NSDA members and competed for the team; the older ones have worked the National Tournament in various capacities, from gopher, to tab helper, to elevator guard. The NSDA is a Sheaff family affair.

In order for every high school child to have the opportunities my children have had we, as an organization, have work to do. I am focused on working with communities (urban and rural—I am from Iowa, after all) to make this activity accessible to and available to all.

It is an issue of educational equity.

If the time existed I would love to announce EVERY student, coach, and member school from that stage, but at minimum I can try to work to make it easier for you, the coach, to help your students discover their voice.

Having served for the past 12 years on the Board, I have been a part of some tremendous changes that have helped propel the NSDA into the 21st century. However, there is still much work to do and many challenges that still face us as an organization. I am sure that my experience on the Board will continue to help the NSDA to find resolve. Inclusion is imperative and I want to play an instrumental part in ensuring that every child who desires to be a part of this honors society has an opportunity to do so. I solicit your support, welcome your insights, and am open to your suggestions on ways that, together, we can be “voices for the voiceless.”

Thank you in advance for your vote.

Frequently Asked Questions What is the general time commitment as a member of the national Board of Directors?

Board members are expected to attend four regularly scheduled meetings throughout the school year—two in-person meetings and two online meetings. Board members are also asked to attend the National Tournament in June and to serve on ad hoc and Board committees as assigned by the Board president.

What is the role and time commitment of a Board member at the National Tournament? Board members are asked to attend several public events during the day and in the evening, as well as serve various volunteer roles during the competition hours.

Is there a financial cost to being a Board member? No stipend or salary is given to a member of the Board of Directors. However, travel expenses (related to Board member responsibilities) are paid by the Association.

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For an overview of Board responsibilities, see page 12.

2016 Board Election

Byron R. Arthur

Jay Stubbs

Holy Cross School Louisiana

Bellaire High School Texas

In February 2012, I had an opportunity to address the Key Coaches of the Barkley Forum at Emory University. I recounted my own fears as I returned to my alma mater, Holy Cross School in New Orleans to revive a once proud program that had died around 2002. I confessed that as I looked at the six students who were brave enough to stay, I asked myself if I was still relevant in the lives of young people.

In January 2016, the program has grown to a healthy number with a robust tournament schedule that takes us around the country. We have been able to qualify students to the elimination rounds at NSDA Nationals each year including the 2015 National Champion in Dramatic Interpretation. I am proud that our program is relevant. As for me, the jury is still out.

The National Speech & Debate Association is clearly relevant and I am excited about the possibility of playing a more active role. As the organization continues to expand its operations and function very much like a corporation, I am hopeful that my professional expertise will be helpful. My years working as a corporate communications professional will hopefully contribute to the continued growth in awareness and favorability of the NSDA brand. Second, my experience as a practicing trial attorney will add a unique and important perspective to this fiduciary Board as it makes important decisions with legal implications.

As I listen to the “conversations” in our country I am concerned. The folks in urban centers offer screams of discontent and the people in rural areas have their own set of fears. I am confident that each group has valid points. As these adults are yelling at each other I realize that might all be very different had they met during their teen years at a speech tournament. It is here that hearts are softened and minds are sharpened. We must continue to promote inclusion and realize that students in the heart of the city as well as the far reaches of a rural county all need this activity.

My desire is to one day leave this activity and have it be better than I found it. As such, I offer myself for service on the National Speech & Debate Association Board of Directors.

Speech and Debate is the best activity a student can be involved in. My career has been spent promoting this activity and serving in leadership roles on the local, state, and national levels. This is why I would like to serve the students and coaches of the National Speech & Debate Association as a member of the Board of Directors.

Our students and coaches are the lifeline of NSDA. I have coached in schools that are both small and large.

I have coached in economically disadvantaged schools.

Our organization is so diverse and I will continue to listen so that everyone can feel that they have a voice in the future of our activity.

Many of the issues we face in our events involve technology and ethics. While we are a competitive activity I believe we have a responsibility to make this an ethical activity. We must continue to examine our speech and debate events to incorporate new technology where possible without losing the core of what made our events great. Debate evidence and sources for our interp scripts are amongst some of the issues that we will continue to face. NSDA needs to hear from coaches so our rules can evolve to keep up with the times.

Increasing student participation is a key to our organization’s growth. Examining events with declining participation as well as seeking new events is needed.

While I am an advocate of all events, I am very proud of our efforts to expand the importance of Congressional Debate. I will always remember that the policies of the NSDA should be in the best interest of our students.

Our organization is only as strong as our coaches.

So many of our new coaches depend on education materials from our website. I would like to see us expand those materials and get them into the hands of as many coaches as possible. No one knows our activity better than our coaches. I encourage all coaches to voice their thoughts on issues that impact their students whether that be future policy or upcoming topics for debate.

NSDA continues to address issues that make coaching and participating in speech and debate better than ever before. I would appreciate the opportunity to serve this activity by becoming a member of the NSDA Board of Directors. I humbly ask for your support of my election.

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 11

Board of Directors Responsibilities and Expectations The Board determines the Association’s mission and purpose, and ensures effective organizational planning. Directors: Promote and uphold the mission, purpose, goals,

policies, programs, services, strengths, and needs.

Serve as ambassadors by upholding the constitution

and acting in a manner that is in the organization’s best interest.

Determine, monitor, and strengthen the organization’s

programs and services.

The Board governs the organization through broad policies and objectives and determines, monitors, and strengthens programs and services. Directors: Serve in leadership positions and undertake special

assignments willingly and enthusiastically.

Prepare for and participate in four regularly scheduled

meetings throughout the school year, attend the National Tournament in June, and serve on ad hoc and Board committees as assigned by the Board president.

Ask timely and substantive questions at meetings,

consistent with their conscience and convictions, while supporting the majority decision on actions passed by the Board, as well as suggest agenda items as needed for meetings, ensuring that significant, policy-related matters are addressed.

Maintain confidentiality of the Board’s closed

executive sessions, adjudicate objectively on the basis of information received from individuals and urge those with grievances to follow established policies, and speak for the Board or organization only when authorized to do so.

Gain an awareness of trends in the field of speech and

debate.

Orient new Board members and evaluate Board

performance.

The Board selects and removes the Executive Director, whose performance it evaluates.

Directors: Counsel the Executive Director as appropriate and

offer support during the variety of problem solving and public relations interactions that arise with groups and individuals.

Refrain from requesting special information or projects

from staff without first consulting the Executive Director.

The Board ensures legal and ethical integrity and maintains accountability. Directors: Serve the organization as a whole, rather than any

special interest group or constituency, and maintain independence and objectivity, acting with a sense of fairness, ethics, and personal integrity.

Uphold the premise that even the appearance of a

conflict of interest that might bring harm to the Board or organization is undesirable, and will disclose any possible conflicts to the Board in a timely manner.

Seek advice from the Executive Director before

accepting or offering gifts from or to anyone who does business with the organization.

The Board provides proper financial oversight, ensures adequate resources, and approves sale of Association assets. Directors: Exercise prudence with the Board in the control and

transfer of funds.

Understand and evaluate the organization’s financial

statements and otherwise help the Board fulfill its fiduciary responsibilities.

The Board enhances the organization’s public standing. Directors: Support the organization through annual giving

according to personal means.

Assist the Executive Director, Development

Director, and Development Board by implementing fundraising strategies through personal influence with corporations, individuals, and/or foundations.

CONNECT. SUPPORT. INSPIRE. 12

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August 7-10, 2016 | Golden Nugget Hotel | Las Vegas, Nevada Join your peers, the Board of Directors, national office staff, and other guest speakers for this unique collaborative occasion!

essional This Development year’s leadership conference, spearheaded by a committee of leaders, will highlight

Accreditation, and Recognition Opportunities for Coaches

building our national community with sessions specifically designed for large and small

al Speech & Debate Association is committed to giving speech and debate cess to various forms of professional development. We aim to ensure that you ity to earn credit towards professional licensure requirements, as well as providing • Diversity and inclusion positive recognition from your school administration. Here is an overview of some you can benefit from our organization.

• Advocating for your program and

districts, including:

for the activity general Coaches Institute – The Coach Institute is a FREE resourcein available for all member . This week long training provides helpful lessons and insights from veteran coaches • Demystifying the district cators. For more information visit www.speechanddebate.org/onlineinstitute. tournament for your coaches

te Credit – Coaches may opt to earn graduate credit from Drake University for • Partnering with your state ing training sessions such as the Coach Institute. A master’s level graduate credit is .

• Partnering with local organizations

Leadership challenges rs – Throughout the year the • National Speech & Debate Association offers more FREE online webinars for students and coaches . Attendees can earn professional • And much more! ment credit.

Plus, enjoy focused networking time to uncover more opportunities to learn from each other.

onal Accreditation - The National Speech & Debate Association is proud to e outstanding members for their expertise in coaching and teaching speech and Our Professional Development Program recognizes coaches and educators who mitted to furthering their education and skills to better meet the needs of their s. Visit http://www.speechanddebate.org/accreditation for more information.

ech & Debate Association •

The 2016 conference is open to all district leaders and any other coaches interested in leadership! Registration is $50 per attendee. Several meals are 125 Watson Street, Ripon, WI 54971 • (920) 748-6206 • www.speechanddebate.org provided. The Golden Nugget offers the most affordable and convenient option for lodging at $69 per night. A $115 rate has been negotiated for Saturday night for those wishing to arrive early.

Special Thanks to Our Planning Committee!

David Abel (KS) Christy Briggs (NV) Don Crabtree (MO) Clifton D. Davis (ID) Kelly Clark Garner (MS) Mary T. Gormley (NJ) Kristi Hodgkiss (TX) Alma J. Nicholson (LA) Jeff Stutzman (IN) Pam Cady Wycoff (MN)

Register now until July 1, 2016! Visit us online:

www.speechanddebate.org/leadershipconference

UPDATE

Humorous Interpretation presented by Western Kentucky University

1st – Rohan Chatterjee Munster High School, IN Coached by: Jordan Mayer

2nd – Sophia Miliotis Roseville Area High School, MN Coached by: Bret Hemmerlin 3rd – Taren Pfitzer Sioux Falls Lincoln High School, SD Coached by: Amanda Nelson 4th – Jacob Wallack University School, FL Coached by: Amber Justman and Megan Koester 5th – Sophia Darbonne Acadiana High School, LA Coached by: Brittany Turner

2015 Humorous Interpretation National Champion 14

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2015 School Awards | UPDATE Schools of Outstanding Distinction Apple Valley High School, MN Archbishop Mitty High School, CA Bellarmine College Prep, CA Desert Vista High School, AZ Gabrielino High School, CA James Logan High School, CA

Miramonte High School, CA Munster High School, IN Nova High School, FL Plano West Sr. High School, TX University School, FL

Speech Schools of Excellence

Debate Schools of Excellence

Blue Valley North High School, KS Bronx Preparatory Charter School, NY Central HS - Springfield, MO Grapevine High School, TX Eagan High School, MN Hastings High School, TX Hattiesburg High School, MS Hinsdale Central High School, IL Kamehameha Schools, HI McClintock High School, AZ Monte Vista High School - Danville, CA Montville High School, NJ Moorhead High School, MN Raymore-Peculiar High School, MO Ridge High School, NJ Roseville Area High School, MN Rowan County Sr. High School, KY Saint Mary’s Hall High School, TX South Grand Prairie High School, TX Trinity Preparatory School, FL Tulsa Washington High School, OK

Aberdeen Central High School, SD Bangor High School, ME BASIS Scottsdale High School, AZ Bellaire High School, TX Brookfield East High School, WI Brophy College Prep, AZ Cypress Bay High School, FL Damien High School, CA Durham Academy, NC George Washington High School, CO Greenhill School, TX James E. Taylor High School, TX Oakwood School - North Hollywood, CA Plano Sr. High School, TX Strake Jesuit College Preparatory, TX Syosset High School, NY University School, OH West Lafayette High School, IN Westwood High School, TX

Speech Schools of Honor

Debate Schools of Honor

Acadiana High School, LA Americas High School, TX Andover High School, KS Blue Springs High School, MO Cherry Creek High School, CO Columbiana High School, OH Durham Academy, NC Eastview High School, MN George Washington High School, CO Harlingen High School South, TX Holy Cross School, LA James Madison Memorial High School, WI Lake Braddock Secondary High School, VA Lakeville North High School, MN Larue County High School, KY O’Gorman High School, SD Orono High School, MN Plano Sr. High School, TX Prospect High School, IL Sioux Falls Lincoln High School, SD Southside High School, SC

Brentwood High School, TN Carroll High School - Southlake, TX Cary Academy, NC Central High School - Springfield, MO Chesterton High School, IN Dougherty Valley High School, CA Eagan High School, MN Edina High School, MN Edmond Santa Fe High School, OK Glenbrook North High School, IL Green Valley High School, NV James Madison Memorial High School, WI Lamar High School - Houston, TX Leland High School, CA North Allegheny Sr. High School, PA Olathe Northwest High School, KS Park Hill South High School, MO Shawnee Mission East High School, KS Stephen F. Austin High School - Austin, TX The Blake School, MN Walt Whitman High School, MD Wichita East High School, KS

These results were adjusted following the final round disqualification of Code H208.

2015 National Tournament | UPDATE

Important Notice In the Fall, the Board of Directors voted to disqualify Code H208 from the 2015 Humorous Interpretation final round due to violations of the rule on adaptations. The revised final round results are provided here. The 2015 School Awards were also adjusted.

As a result of the disqualification, the Board of Directors issued the following additional penalties to the sponsoring school chapter and coaches of Code H208.

A. All Bruno E. Jacob award points associated with code H208 were revoked.

B. All NSDA points earned by the coaches of the sponsoring school chapter at the 2015 National Tournament were revoked.

C. All School of Excellence award points associated with code H208 and any resulting team honors were revoked and proper awards reissued.

All members are reminded to follow all rules found in the High School Chapter, Rules, and Tournament Operations Manual.

D The sponsoring school chapter is penalized four speech event entry slots at the 2016 NSDA District Speech Tournament. The school is also not eligible for bonus entries.

MAIN SPEECH EVENTS – FINAL RESULTS | UPDATE HUMOROUS INTERPRETATION presented by Western Kentucky University

Place

Name / School / State Cume

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Rohan Chaterjee, Munster High School, IN Sophia Miliotis, Roseville Area High School, MN Taren Pfitzer, Sioux Falls Lincoln High School, SD Jacob Wallack, University School, FL Sophia Darbonne, Acadiana High School, LA

RD 7-10

27 26 29 29 33

Semi

Semi

RD 11

RD 12

FINAL

Total

1 1 4 1 4 6 3 1 6 7 4 1 3 3 2 1 1 1 3 2 1 2 3 3 2 82 3 4 1 3 1 4 4 3 3 6 1 2 1 4 5 2 3 2 4 3 3 3 1 1 1 83 4 3 5 5 6 1 5 3 1 2 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 1 1 4 4 2 5 6 105 1 3 1 1 1 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 2 4 5 5 3 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 112 2 5 2 4 2 1 2 4 5 1 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 127

Note: Code H208 was disqualified from the final round due to violations of the rule on adaptations.

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CLAREMONT SUMMER DEBATE PROGRAMS

About the Public Debate Program

The Public Debate Program offers integrated class/critical thinking instruction and debate competition for secondary schools. Major educational and civil rights non-profit organizations in the US and abroad use PDP materials and programming for critical thinking, professional communication, language development, and girls’ and women’s empowerment instruction. The PDP proprietary competitive debate formats were developed to maximize student educational outcomes and accelerate standardsbased learning, as well as professional communication practice. The PDP promotes sophisticated public speaking, critical thinking, note taking, research, argumentation, and refutation skills. In 2015-16, the PDP established new initiatives in Pakistan, China, Costa Rica, India, Jordan, and the US. More than 750,000 teachers and students in 27 countries participate in the PDP.

National Middle School/High School Debate Summer Sessions

Middle schools and high school students may participate in MSPDP and HSPDP/CHSSA parliamentary debate programs. All debate sessions feature an innovative curriculum, extraordinarily low 4-1 studentfaculty ratio, small group instruction, certified staff and judges for program instruction, and studentdirected elective and open forum sessions. The summer program integrates student assessment portfolios for individual feedback and best practices updates during the following year. Students may attend one or more than one session – all sessions are appropriate for new and advanced debaters.

International High School Debate Summer Session/Audition

The program is open to US and international high school students. Debaters from China, Japan, Germany, Canada, Singapore, Indonesia, Kuwait, UAE, India, Mexico, Jordan, and other countries have previously attended. Instruction includes preparation for international debating in 2 international debate formats – the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) and World Parliamentary Debate (WPD) formats. In addition to the advantages of Claremont Summer programming (innovative curriculum, 4-1 student-faculty ratio, staff with years of international debate experience, studentdirected elective and open forum sessions), the program includes an integrated audition for Claremont’s International Public Debate Program (IPDP).

The IPDP is an extraordinarily large, active, and successful program; its award-winning debaters have participated in tournaments and international exchanges in more than 20 countries. IPDP instruction and international competition assists students to succeed in WSDC competition. About half of the members of the NSDA’s WSDC debating squad previously participated in IPDP or other PDP debating.

Visit claremontsummer.org for information and applications

OUTSTANDING LEADER IN NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DEBATE TRAINING

2016 SUMMER PROGRAMS

CLAREMONT SUMMER Residential/commuter sessions for 500 debate and leadership communication students.

For comprehensive Information and applications, visit claremontsummer.org.

MIDDLE SCHOOL DEBATE Three sessions, with training in the Middle School Public Debate Program (MSPDP) format. Comprehensive instruction in advanced public speaking and argumentation – appropriate for MSPDP and other debate formats. The third session includes a summer tournament.

Session 1 – June 24-29 Session 2 – July 6-11 Session 3 – July 26-August 2

HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE Two sessions, one with training in the High School Public Debate Program (HSPDP) and California High School Speech Association (CHSSA) parliamentary debate formats and another session featuring international debate instruction in the World Schools Debating Championship (WSDC) and World Parliamentary Debate (WPD) formats.

National (HSPDP/CHSSA) – July 17-24 International (WSDC/WPD) – June 18-25

PROGRAM DIRECTOR John Meany Director of Forensics Claremont McKenna College Claremont Colleges Debate Union john.meany@cmc.edu

CLAREMONT LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION ACADEMIC CONFERENCES 2016 PROGRAMS

WINTER CONFERENCE Conference on Nuclear Politics February 19-21

An effort to stimulate informed discussion, deliberation, and debate on nuclear weapons, proliferation, and energy issues. The conference includes 3 keynote speeches and opportunities for high school students to present papers, engage in roundtable discussions, and offer multimedia presentations.

CIVICS IN ACTION (CIVAC) LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION PROGRAMS

SUMMER SESSION – JULY 9-16

Claremont Summer offers advanced communication training for academic and career success. The Claremont program uses the same instructional sessions, practice exercises, and curricular materials now used by higher education institutions, non-profit and government organizations, and businesses for training tens of thousands of individuals.

Through the application of case studies, training simulations, and roundtable discussions with talented communicators from diverse fields – technology, higher education, politics, law, and finance – students will develop the ability to identify problems, propose technically-achievable solutions, express vision, and motivate and manage others.

The summer program includes the opportunity to present papers and engage in discussion panels in the Conference on Criminal Justice Reform.

ACADEMIC TERM PROGRAMS 2016-17

High school students are eligible to participate in Claremont’s Civics in Action program, a social and political advocacy group promoting innovative ideas and workable, sustainable educational and community projects. The program uses curricular materials, methods, and individual and group presentations, training students for leadership and school/community projects.

National and international projects are ongoing during each academic year. Students can build on their project work or join new initiatives annually. Programming is evaluated by field and educational professionals.

For information on summer and leadership programs, please visit

claremontsummer.org & leadershipcommunication.center

Claremont’s Civics in Action program features opportunities to learn and apply management communication skills and participate in national and international leadership projects and conferences.

Programming is based on the Claremont Colleges Debate Union’s successful professional communication programs for higher educational institutions, non-profit organizations, businesses, and government agencies. National and international photojournalism, healthy eating, and voter registration projects are underway.

SUMMER CONFERENCE Conference on Criminal Justice Reform July 14-15 (Announcement March 2016)

For Conference and CivAc Information, visit leadershipcommunication.center.

CONTACT Lauren Phillips Claremont McKenna College Claremont Colleges Debate Union lauren.phillips@cmc.edu

NATIoNAL TOURNAMENT GUIDE

Check out our Salt Lake City guide including lodging, transportation, schedule highlights, and more!

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Allison Martin Co-Chair Jordan High School, Sundance District

Carol Shackelford Co-Chair Bingham High School, Sundance District

Erin Pack-Jordan Judges Chair Corner Canyon High School, Sundance District

Scott Pettit Hospitality Chair Summit Academy, Sundance District

Leslie Robinett Site Coordinator and Public Relations Chair Canyons School District Representative

Erica Vermaas Volunteers Chair Highland High School, Great Salt Lake District

T

he Sundance, Great Salt Lake, and Wasatch Districts of Utah invite you to “set your sights high” in Salt Lake City for the 2016 National Speech & Debate Tournament in June. Some may remember our last time hosting the National Tournament was in 2004. This year there will be different schools and faces eager to welcome you. Our host committee is hard at work to guarantee that this Nationals experience will be one for the books!

A beautiful and vibrant destination, Salt Lake combines unparalleled access to nature, history, and friendly hospitality.

During your week stay, we hope your team will explore the many wonderful places this great state has for visitors. Near our tournament venues, you will find breathtaking hiking trails and a variety of indoor and outdoor entertainment options. Teams may also wish to visit Park City, a short 30-minute drive from downtown Salt Lake, to visit the Olympic Park which has two free museums, zip lining, bobsledding, shopping, and more fun activities.

Downtown SLC is brimming with entertainment, as well. We encourage you to visit Hogle Zoo, the Natural History Museum, Red Butte Gardens, City Creek Center, the Tracy Aviary, Clark Planetarium, and our state capital. Regardless of your interests, we are confident you and your team will find plenty to do during your stay!

There is a diversity of cafes and restaurants in the Salt Lake area.

Some of the local favorites include Ruth’s Diner and the Red Iguana, but there are plenty more unique establishments that are sure to please any crowd.

We look forward to welcoming you in June!

Best Regards, Salt Lake City Host Committee

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National Speech & Debate Tournament JUNE 12-17, 2016 | Salt Lake City, Utah OVERVIEW OF HIGH SCHOOL TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS SUNDay • JUNE 12 (Registration and Expo) This year, tournament registration and the expo will take place Sunday, June 12, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City, UT. The Sheraton Salt Lake City and the Hilton Salt Lake City Center are the host hotels for the tournament and are located near the Salt Palace Convention Center where the final rounds and awards assembly will be held. Schools staying in any of the recommended properties will find this extremely convenient.

MONDAY and tuesday • JUNE 13-14 (Prelim Rounds/Early Elims/Local Host Posting Party) Nine venues will be used for preliminary competition, June 13-14. All main event preliminary and early elimination competition on Monday and Tuesday will occur between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. High school Congressional Debate will be hosted at the Sheraton Salt Lake City (House) and Hilton Salt Lake City Center (Senate). Alta High School will host preliminary rounds of Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oratory. Butler Middle School will host preliminary rounds of Lincoln-Douglas Debate. Brighton High School will host preliminary rounds of Public Forum Debate. Hillcrest High School will host preliminary rounds of Policy Debate. Jordan High School will host preliminary rounds of Humorous, Dramatic, and Duo Interpretation. Mount Jordan Middle School will host preliminary rounds of Program Oral Interpretation and Informative Speaking. Indian Hills Middle School will host World Schools Debate competition.

The student posting party will take place at the Gallivan Center plaza. Students eliminated from main event competition on Tuesday will re-register for Wednesday supplemental events upstairs in Gallivan Hall (located at the north end of the plaza) during the student posting party.

WEDNESDAY • JUNE 15 (Elim Rounds/Supplemental Events) Five venues will be used on Wednesday. All competition will occur between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Students who qualify for elimination round 9 of all main speech and debate events will compete at Brighton High School.

World Schools Debate will also move to Brighton High School on Wednesday. High school Congressional Debate semifinals will be held at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center. Those students re-registered for supplemental speech events will compete at Jordan High School. Those students re-registered in Extemporaneous Debate will compete at Mount Jordan Middle School. Note: Middle school competition begins Wednesday, with MS speech events at Alta High School and MS debate events at Indian Hills Middle School. Buses will be available to shuttle high school students interested in judging.

THURSDAY • JUNE 16 (Elim Rounds/Supp-Cons Events/Interp Finals/Diamond Awards)

Online Registration Opens February 15

Thursday morning, debate elimination rounds will continue at Brighton High School. High school Congressional Debate will hold its final round sessions at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center. All supplemental and consolation events will occur at Jordan High School. Note: Middle school competition continues at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday with MS speech events at Alta High School and MS debate events at Indian Hills Middle School. Buses will again be available to shuttle high school students interested in judging.

On Thursday afternoon through the evening, attendees will enjoy the national final rounds of World Schools Debate, Program Oral Interpretation, Humorous, Dramatic, and Duo Interpretation, as well as the Donus D. Roberts Diamond Ceremony, at the Salt Palace Convention Center.

FRIDAY • JUNE 17 (Supp-Cons/Main Event Finals and National Awards Assembly) The remaining main event final rounds (Original Oratory, United States Extemp, International Extemp, Informative Speaking, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Policy Debate, and Public Forum Debate), as well as the supplemental and consolation event finals, will be held throughout the day on Friday at the Salt Palace Convention Center, culminating with the National Awards Assembly Friday evening.

The National Speech & Debate Association has appeared on the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) National Advisory List of Student Contests and Activities since the origination of the list.

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IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SELECTING AND RESERVING HOTELS please read before selecting lodging!

1.

All schools should stay at one of the Association recommended hotels in downtown Salt Lake City, UT and the surrounding areas. The lowest rates have been negotiated for our members. Please do not stay outside the block. The large volume of room sales within the block allows the Association to continue to negotiate the most affordable rate list. Properties that do not appear on this list are likely inconvenient for participation in the tournament, including lack of safety, amenities, and proximity to restaurants and are providing no benefit to the overall cost of the tournament. Morning and afternoon traffic could add substantial time to your commute if you are located outside the block. In addition, hotels not on the list have no contractual obligation to the Association, and therefore, we cannot provide any level of reservation protection at these properties.

2.

When calling hotels, all coaches must mention the “National Speech & Debate Association and/or National Forensic League block” to receive the posted rate. All room reservations within the block are subject to an automatic two-night, non-refundable deposit per room at the time of booking. This avoids double booking and allows all attendees equal opportunity to book in the best available properties.

3.

All hotel properties on the Association’s list are easily accessible and are within 15-20 minutes by interstate or surface streets of competition venues. The tournament website will have links to maps from every hotel to the Salt Palace Convention Center, the Salt Lake City International Airport, and all competition sites. You can print all needed maps before ever leaving home.

4.

The high school Congressional Debate headquarters are the Hilton Salt Lake City Center (Senate) and the Sheraton Salt Lake City (House) located in downtown Salt Lake City, UT. It is recommended that high school teams with Congressional debaters stay at the Hilton, Sheraton, or one of the properties located near them to avoid substantial rush hour traffic issues. These hotels are an excellent choice in both price and feature. The Hilton Salt Lake City Center will host all semifinal and final rounds of Congressional Debate competition.

5.

It is recommended that all coaches visit the individual websites of the hotels to determine which property fits the needs of their program. All hotels on the list are conveniently located to various aspects of the tournament. The Hilton Salt Lake City Center and the Sheraton Salt Lake City are the most conveniently located hotels for access to the high school Congressional Debate competition, registration, final rounds, and the National Awards Assembly. Schools are encouraged to book early as hotel blocks will fill up quickly.

6.

Key Travel Times to Note: a. Hilton, Sheraton, and other downtown hotels to Schools (less than 20 minutes) b. Hilton, Sheraton, and other downtown hotels to Congressional Debate and finals (less than five-minute walk) c. All other Hotels to Schools (5 to 20 minutes) d. All other Hotels to Congressional Debate and Finals (less than 20 minutes)

7.

PLEASE LOOK AT A MAP! Before reserving rooms, all coaches should consult a map of the Salt Lake City area to get a better perspective on travel logistics. Also look at maps available on the tournament website.

The key to a less stressful week is to consider following the above lodging suggestions provided by the national office.

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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Now Availab le for P re - O rde r!

PRE-ORDER YOUR #NATS16 T-SHIRTS DURING ONLINE REGISTRATION – STARTING FEBRUARY 15! * Very limited quantities available at tournament. Pre-ordering is highly recommended to ensure your size selection is available!

VENUE GUIDE • SALT LAKE CITY NATIONALS Downtown Salt Lake City will be an excellent location for the 2016 National Speech & Debate Tournament.

To make planning easier, we have provided an overview of key logistics. Please refer to the following pages for essential venue and lodging information. Keep in mind that all details are tentative and subject to change.

Salt Palace Convention Center 100 West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 » Registration and Expo (Sun) » Final Rounds and National Awards Assembly (Thu-Fri)

Hilton Salt Lake City Center 255 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 » Host Hotel (Sun-Fri) » High School Senate Prelims (Mon-Tue) » High School Congress Semifinal/Final Sessions (Wed/Thu)

Sheraton Salt Lake City 150 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 » Host Hotel (Sun-Fri) » High School House Prelims (Mon-Tue)

Gallavan Center Plaza 239 Main Street East, Salt Lake City, UT 84111 » Student Posting Party (Tue evening) » Supplemental Re-registration (Tue evening)

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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VENUE GUIDE • SALT LAKE CITY NATIONALS

Alta High School 11055 South 1000 East, Sandy, UT 84094 » Extemp and Original Oratory (Mon-Tue) » Middle School Speech Events (Wed-Thu)

Brighton High School 2220 Bengal Boulevard, Salt Lake City, UT 84121 » Public Forum Debate (Mon-Tue) » HS Main Event Speech Elims (Wed) » World Schools Debate (Wed) » HS Main Event Debate Elims (Wed-Thu)

Butler Middle School 7530 South 2700 East, Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121 » Lincoln-Douglas Debate (Mon-Tue)

Hillcrest High School 7350 South 900 East, Midvale, UT 84047 » Policy Debate (Mon-Tue)

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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VENUE GUIDE • SALT LAKE CITY NATIONALS

Indian Hills Middle School 1180 East Sanders Road, Sandy, UT 84094 » World Schools Debate (Mon-Tue) » Middle School Debate Events (Wed-Thu)

Jordan High School 95 Beetdigger Boulevard, Sandy, UT 84070 » Humorous, Dramatic, and Duo Interp (Mon-Tue) » Supp/Cons except Extemp Debate (Wed-Thu)

Mount Jordan Middle School 9351 South Mountaineer Lane, Sandy, UT 84070 » Program Oral Interp and Informative (Mon-Tue) » Extemp Debate (Wed-Thu)

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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HOTEL GUIDE • SALT LAKE CITY NATIONALS

BOOKING TIP

For prompt service, mention the “National Speech & Debate Association and/or National Forensic League block” (or the Group Code noted below) when reserving your rooms to receive the advertised rate for the National Speech & Debate Tournament. All room reservations within the block are subject to an automatic two-night, nonrefundable deposit per room at the time of booking or upon cancellation, depending on the property.

Note: Middle school programs needing reservations of less than five days must book at properties other than the Sheraton or Hilton.

Hilton Salt Lake City Center 255 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (801) 328-2000 Amenities: FC, IP, R

Rate: $119

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/utah/hilton-salt-lake-citycenter-SLCCCHH/index.html NOTE: The Hilton Salt Lake City Center requires a minimum fivenight stay. If you cancel your reservation, the two-night, nonrefundable fee per room will be charged at the time of cancellation.

DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown 110 West 600 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (801) 359-7800 Amenities: CI, FC, GL, IP, R

Rate: $129

http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/utah/doubletreesuites-by-hilton-hotel-salt-lake-city-downtown-SLCWSDT/ index.html

Hilton Garden Inn Salt Lake City Airport Sheraton Salt Lake City 150 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (888) 627-8152 Amenities: CI, FC, OP, R

Rate: $109

NOTE: The Sheraton Salt Lake City requires a minimum fivenight stay. If you cancel your reservation, the two-night, nonrefundable fee per room will be charged at the time of cancellation.

Courtyard Salt Lake City Downtown Rate: $135

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/slccd-courtyard-saltlake-city-downtown/

Springhill Suites Salt Lake City Airport 4955 Wiley Post Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: (801) 532-6633 Amenities: CB, CI, FC, GL, IP

Rate: $129

http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com/en/gi/groups/ personalized/S/SLCAPGI-NSDA-20160612/index.jhtml

http://www.sheratonsaltlakecityhotel.com/

345 West 100 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (385) 290-6500 Amenities: CI, GL, IP, R

4975 Wiley Post Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: (801) 519-9000 Amenities: CI, FC, GL, IP, R

Rate: $129.95

http://goo.gl/rzp3ph

Courtyard Salt Lake City Airport 4843 West Douglas Corrigan Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: (801) 532-4085 Rate: $129 Amenities: CI, FC, GL, IP, R

Hilton Garden Inn Salt Lake City/Sandy 277 West Sego Lily Drive, Sandy, UT 84070 Phone: (801) 352-9400 Amenities: CI, FC, GL, IP, R

Rate: $129

http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/utah/hiltongarden-inn-salt-lake-city-sandy-SLCSYGI/index.html

Radisson Salt Lake City Airport 2177 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: (801) 364-5800 Amenities: CI, FC, OP, R

Rate: $129

Group Code: National Speech & Debate http://www.radisson.com/salt-lake-city-hotel-ut-84116/saltair

Residence Inn Salt Lake City Airport 4883 West Douglas Corrigan Way, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: (801) 532-4101 Rate: $129 Amenities: CB, CI, FC, GL, IP http://goo.gl/rzp3ph

http://goo.gl/rzp3ph

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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HOTEL GUIDE • SALT LAKE CITY NATIONALS

AMENITIES LEGEND

CB = Complimentary Breakfast GL = Guest Laundry

|

|

CI = Complimentary Internet

IP = Indoor Pool

|

|

OP = Outdoor Pool

FC = Fitness Center |

R = Restaurant

Fairfield Inn and Suites Salt Lake City South

Salt Lake Plaza Hotel at Temple Square

594 West 4500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84123 Phone: (801) 265-9600 Amenities: CB, CI, GL, IP

122 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (800) 366-3684 Amenities: CI, FC, GL, OP, R

Rate: $120

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Hampton Inn 10690 South Holiday Park Drive, Sandy, UT 84070 Phone: (801) 571-0800 Amenities: CB, CI, FC, GL, IP

Group Code: National Speech & Debate Association http://www.plaza-hotel.com/

Crystal Inn Hotel and Suites - West Valley City Rate: $119

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2254 West City Center Court, West Valley City, UT 84119 Phone: (888) 977-9400 Rate: $109 Amenities: CB, CI, GL, FC, IP Group Code: NFL616 http://www.crystalinnwestvalley.com/default.aspx?pg=about_ us

Holiday Inn Express Salt Lake City Downtown 206 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (801) 521-9500 Amenities: CB, CI, FC, GL, IP

Rate: $114

Rate: $119

Best Western Plus CottonTree Inn

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10695 Auto Mall Drive, Sandy, UT 84070 Phone: (801) 523-8484 Amenities: CB, CI, FC, GL, IP

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Red Lion Hotels Salt Lake Downtown

Marriott Downtown at City Creek 75 South West Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (801) 531-0800 Amenities: FC, GL, IP, R

Rate: $119

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Group Code: National Speech & Debate http://www.radisson.com/saltlakecity/speech

161 West 600 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (800) 733-5466 Amenities: CI, GL, FC, OP, R

Rate: $99

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Holiday Inn Express and Suites - Salt Lake City Airport East

Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown 215 West South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101 Phone: (801) 531-7500 Amenities: CI, FC, IP, R

Rate: $100

Rate: $119

200 North 2100 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116 Phone: (801) 741-1500 Amenities: CI, FC, GL, IP

Rate: $97

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Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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TRANSPORTATION GUIDE • SALT LAKE CITY NATIONALS Hertz is the Association's official rental car company. Whether you make reservations through hertz.com, a travel agency, or global online travel sites such as Orbitz, Travelocity, etc., use the Association account code below. Some restrictions may apply. For more information, call Hertz Meeting Services 1-800-654-2240 or visit hertz.com today.

Reservations

To reserve special meeting rates, please include your CV# when making reservations.

Reservations

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Protects you from unexpected service costs related to non-mechanical occurrences. Daily rental fee applies.

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Daily rental fee  Flat tires and tire mounting are covered applies.  Running out of gas/fuel delivery Covers lock-outs reimbursement and lost key up to   Travel interruption  $1,000 Flat tires and tire mounting are covered  Running out of gas/fuel delivery  Travel interruption reimbursement up to $1,000

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Advance reservations airport related fees, vehicle licensing fees and are recommended, blackout dates may apply. Govoptional items, such as refueling or additional ernment taxes, taxrental reimbursement, driver fees,surcharges, are extra. Minimum age is 20 airport related charge fees, vehicle licensing fees and (age differential for 20-24 applies). optional items, such as refueling or additional Standard rental conditions and qualifications apdriver fees, are extra.

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Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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TRANSPORTATION GUIDE • SALT LAKE CITY NATIONALS

www.Delta.com Meeting Event Code:

NMMY3

Receive discounts off your flight when you book online with recommended carriers. Some restrictions may apply.

www.swabiz.com Click “Book Travel” and Enter Company ID:

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776 North Terminal Drive Salt Lake City, UT 84122

* UNITED: U.S. 50 States and Canada Customers: call your professional travel agency, book online via united.com or call United Reservations Meetings Desk at 800-426-1122 and provide the Z Code ZW9R and Agreement Code 177617. For all tickets issued through United Meetings Reservations Desk, there will be a booking service fee per ticket collected. This fee is subject to change without notice. Such service fee is nonrefundable and applies to all itineraries, one-way or round-trip.

Offer Code: *

ZW9R 177617

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 29

WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE INVITATIONAL • TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS Entries • World Schools teams are comprised of three to five students. The cost of entry is $50 per student.

• Each National Speech & Debate Association district may enter ONE team to the National Tournament.

Districts will not be allowed a second team.

• Students must attend an NSDA district qualifying event to be eligible for selection to their district’s team.

• Students who attend the district tournament and qualify in a main event for the 2016 National Tournament may forgo their qualification and participate in World Schools Debate instead, if they are selected for the team by their district and have preferred it on the Single Entry Letter of Intent prior to the District Tournament Series. Refer to the Single Entry Letter of Intent regarding preferences in partnership events.

• Guest nations may enter teams, as well. See www.speechanddebate.org/USAinvitational for details.

Judges • Each district team must furnish one judge. The judge may not be entered into any other judging pool at the National Speech & Debate Tournament.

• There are no hired judges available.

• Judges must attend judge training on Sunday!

Motions • There will be a mix of prepared and impromptu motions for the competition.

• Prepared motions will be announced by May 1, 2016.

Tentative Schedule Sunday

Judge and Competitor Training; Demo Debate

Monday

Preliminary Rounds (4)

Tuesday

Preliminary Rounds (2) and Double-Octafinals

Wednesday Octafinals/Quarterfinals/Semifinals Thursday

Final Round

Friday

Additional educational sessions on World Schools Debate

Supplemental and Consolation Events • Teams who are eliminated from competition on Tuesday are eligible to enter in supplemental events if pre-registered. Teams must re-register during the local host posting party Tuesday evening.

• Teams who do not advance to Thursday’s rounds may enter in consolation events if pre-registered.

Teams must re-register Wednesday evening.

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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OVERVIEW OF MIDDLE SCHOOL TOURNAMENT LOGISTICS

Middle School Overview | JUNE 14-17, 2016 Tentative Schedule TUESDAY • JUNE 14 Registration will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Sheraton Salt Lake City.

Wednesday • June 15 Middle school competition begins Wednesday, with MS speech events at Alta High School and MS debate events at Indian Hills Middle School. Rounds begin at 8:00 a.m. and last until 6:00 p.m. Time has been built in for lunch.

Thursday • June 16 Middle school competition continues Thursday, with MS speech events at Alta High School and MS debate events at Indian Hills Middle School. Rounds begin at 8:00 a.m. and last until 7:00 p.m. Time has been built in for lunch.

Friday • June 17 Starting at 8:00 a.m., final rounds of Speech, Policy, and Congress, as well as semifinal and final rounds of Lincoln-Douglas and Public Forum, will be held at the Salt Palace Convention Center. The awards assembly will commence at 3:00 p.m., followed by the high school awards assembly at 6:00 p.m., where middle school champions will be recognized.

Important Middle School Dates • Coaches can register online at www.joyoftournaments.com/msnationals/2016.

Entries are due April 24.

• Congressional Debate legislation is due April 24.

• The national office will begin sending out waitlist notices beginning May 1.

• Title, author, and ISBN information for Interpretation events must be posted on the registration website by May 1.

• Media release forms, signed by each student’s parent/ guardian, must be submitted by May 13.

• All fees, including judge bond, must be received in the national office by May 13.

• A late fee of $200 will be assessed for fees and forms received after May 13. A school/club risks forfeiting participation if fees and media release forms are not received by May 20.

Other Details • Coaches are asked to carefully review all tournament information at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

• Please note that each school is limited to five entries per event. A team may place entries on the waitlist to try and secure additional spots.

• We will continue to rigorously train high school student judges. We are requiring middle schools to bring judges for each division in which they have students (Policy, LD, or PF, Speech, and Congress) as a condition for registering. More details are available on the website.

Please Read Before Selecting Lodging!

Coaches should review all information relative to lodging on pages 20-21 and 26-27. Be sure to mention the “National Speech & Debate Association and/or National Forensic League block” when booking rooms, and only book with recommended hotels for the reasons listed.

The host hotels (Sheraton Salt Lake City and Hilton Salt Lake City Center) require a minimum five-night stay.

Middle school programs needing reservations of less than five days must book at properties other than the Sheraton or Hilton.

All room reservations within the block are subject to an automatic non-refundable two-night deposit per room at the time of booking or upon cancellation, depending on the property. This avoids double booking and allows all attendees equal opportunity to book in the best available properties.

Important Notice: The 2016 Salt Lake City Nationals is the last time a club or non-school member may enter the Middle School National Tournament.

The Board of Directors affirms the creation, support, and development of speech and debate programs at the middle and secondary levels through accredited public and private schools. Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, all members of the Association must be school-based. For any club or organization that does not currently have a school-based membership, the Association is eager to work with you to create school based speech and debate teams.

Students who are currently Association members through their area non-schoolbased clubs and organizations may request to have their memberships transferred to their accredited public and private schools.

Homeschools and virtual schools that are recognized by the state in which those schools compete may join the National Speech & Debate Association.

Additional tournament information will be available at www.speechanddebate.org/nationals.

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EVENTS

Beehive Forensics Institute July 10-24, 2016 bfi.utah.edu Our regionally diverse and nationally recognized staff offer students insights that have helped them win over a dozen national championships in high school and collegiate forensics.

Winners of the camp tournament receive partial scholarships to the University of Utah

Public Forum Policy Debate Lincoln Douglas Debate Extemporaneous Speaking Congress (One Week Only) Interp—HI, DI, DUO (One Week Only) Coaches’ Clinic (One Week Only)

TUITION

ONE or TWO week options Resident or commuter July 10-17 or July 10-24 Tuition as low as $375 Discounts for early/group registration

BENEFITS

College Credit Personalized Instruction 8:1 Student to Faculty Ratio A focus on critiqued practice Customizable curriculum Social events

STAFF Century of combined coaching experience All staff members have coached state, regional and national champions

2016 Staff Includes: Mario Herrera - Grady HS, Atlanta, GA Jason Jordan - University of Utah Kyle Cheesewright – College of Idaho Nicholas Russell - California State, Long Beach

Curriculum Corner Check out these practical ideas for speech and debate teachers to use in the classroom. Each activity is constructed to last one hour, but plans may be altered to work with your setting.

Suggested Class Debate Format Speaker A – Opening Statement (2 minutes) Identify their choice for the most influential contribution by an African American and outline two to three reasons why that’s their opinion, with supporting evidence.

Speaker B – Opening Statement and Refutation (3 minutes) Same format as opening statement, then one minute for student to counter reasons offered by their opponent in their opening speech. Note: they are not claiming the contribution Speaker A brought up wasn’t important or significant, but instead, offering why their perspective is more important or significant. This is an opportunity to do some comparison and/ or weighing.

Speaker A – Refutation (3 minutes) Speaker A refutes the main ideas outlined in Speaker B’s opening statement and defends their original analysis - answering the counter arguments made against their opening statement.

Speaker B refutes the Speaker B – Refutation (2 minutes) arguments made against their opening statement.

Cross Examination Between Speaker A and B (2 minutes) Speaker A asks first question, then Speaker B, and so on.

Cross-Curricular Corner Elements of speech and debate can be used in a range of subject areas. The month of February is African American History Month. Given the significance of this month, a Social Studies or English teacher might find it timely, relevant, and engaging for their students to use debate skills to delve into this topic. With this lesson, students can engage in debates about which contribution was most influential or significant to their lives, our society, etc.

Prerequisite Knowledge Required: • Awareness of various contributions to American society by African Americans. Prior to this lesson, a teacher would need to build in learning opportunities to explore various ways in which our society is better off because of unique contributions by African Americans. Literary contributions, inventions, political movements, and more could be examined by students through text, research, and media. A potential resource to better understand African American History month is www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov.

• Additionally, students should be aware of the debate format for the class (see sidebar).

Common Core Standard Addressed: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.3

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Speaker A offers Speaker A – Closing Statement (1 minute) a summary of why their position is the one that should be voted on by the class.

Speaker B – Closing Statement (1 minute)

Same as Speaker A.

Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.

• Welcome the students/bell ringer activity. (5 minutes) • Facilitate the first debate. Invite the first pair of students to the front of the class. The students should sit facing forward. A podium or lectern could be used for speaking, or the students could speak at their desks. Students observing should be instructed to write down their observations throughout the debate. They should have three comments per side. They are expected to render a decision afterward. (15 minutes) • Select a winner from the first debate. Each student who observed should write down who they voted for and why below their observations. At the conclusion of this time period, the teacher should announce who won the class vote. The teacher would provide their analysis of the strengths of each speaker. (10 minutes) • Facilitate the second debate. (15 minutes) • Pick a winner from the second debate. (10 minutes)

• Next Steps – At the conclusion of the debates, assign students a summary assignment. Ask them to think through all of the presentations and determine if their initial opinion has changed. They should articulate why or why not. (5 minutes)

Debate Corner In this lesson, students will be given an opportunity to show their ability to analyze the merits of pieces of evidence. Students can become over reliant on evidence and think that because they have a quotation or statistic in their arsenal, they’ve won the issue at hand. This lesson is designed to help students be more critical of what makes a good piece of evidence and then identify which pieces of evidence best support individual claims.

Prerequisite Knowledge Required: Understanding of argument structure Common Core Standard Addressed: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.11-12.1.D Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.

• Welcome the students/bell ringer activity. (5 minutes) • Split the students into pairs. Hand each pair a sheet of claims and a sheet of evidence. (5 minutes) • Have the students evaluate individual pieces of evidence.

On the sheet that has the evidence listed, they should make notes on what makes that particular evidence strong or why it’s weak. They should offer specific reasons for each evidence provided to them. (15 minutes) • After this happens, ask each pair to identify which piece(s) of evidence would best support each claim that was provided to them. They cannot use one piece of evidence more than another. They can determine that there is no evidence that would best support a claim and offer a reason why they didn’t choose any offered (citing specific reasons the evidence provided was lacking). (15 minutes) • Closing – Project the individual claims on the board.

Ask each pair to identify which evidence they chose to support the claim. List the number that corresponds

with each piece of evidence that a team offers. If a team offers the same as someone else, write down the number again. Do this for each claim. Discuss any patterns that stick out. Let students know that they will review the pieces of evidence the following day and discuss each one individually as a class. They will be handed back their original evidence paper as a reference for the discussion.

(20 minutes)

Interp Corner Students in interpretation should have a deep understanding of dramatic structure and the ability to showcase their understanding of the cutting process. In this lesson, students will be given a selection of either prose, poetry, drama, or a combination of each. They will be given literature with which they are likely not familiar. Literature used by current or recent alums on a team should not be used. If a teacher is aware of what is used in the area, now and recently, that should also be avoided.

Prerequisite Knowledge Required: Understanding of dramatic structure and the cutting process for interpretation Common Core Standard Addressed: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3.B Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.

• Welcome the students/bell ringer activity. (5 minutes) • Hand students their packets of literature for the cutting exercise. Instruct students that they will have 45 minutes to review the literature and then cut it down to a five to eight minute performance. During this time, they should also make decisions related to the performance. What will they emphasize? When will they speed up or slow down their rate of delivery? What tone will their voice convey? (5 minutes) • Begin the cutting exercise. (45 minutes) • Closing – Collect the cuttings. As you’re doing so, tell students that they will be given the cuttings tomorrow and will need to review and then stand up and perform it for a classmate. The classmate will have a ballot to fill out (visit www.speechanddebate.org/judgetraining for blank ballots). Notify them that it will culminate in a final performance for the entire class. (5 minutes)

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Public Speaking Corner Students who do public speaking, especially those in Extemp and Impromptu, need to be aware of a multitude of domestic and international issues. Not only that, but orators should always be on the lookout for relevant examples that could strengthen their speech. This lesson is designed to encourage student discussion about current events.

Prerequisite Knowledge Required: Prior to the class, assign each student a current event. That student should do research and bring five articles on that topic from reputable sources to the class.

Common Core Standard Addressed: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.C Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others into the discussion; and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.

• Welcome the students/bell ringer activity. (5 minutes) • Overview of Activity – Explain to students that you are going to draw names out of a hat to randomly select who gets to provide a two-minute overview of their current event. They should provide an analysis of what’s going on, who is impacted, and anything it may mean moving forward for that person, society, etc. After a student explains, then a roundtable question and answer session will occur. Each current event will be discussed for at least five minutes. The instructor will keep track of the number of questions asked by students and make notes on the effectiveness of the question and the analysis offered by the presenter. Students should take notes of things that they learned throughout the roundtable as it will be used for a follow-up assignment. (5 minutes) • Begin roundtable. (45 minutes) • Closing – Collect the articles from the students who presented. Additionally, notify students that they will continue the roundtable the following day, and every day after until each event is covered. Let students know that they need to be prepared to write a summary of at least three new things they learned and how that might impact their public speaking event(s). (5 minutes) Compiled by Steve Schappaugh, Director of Programs and Education for the National Speech & Debate Association

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What We're Reading Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence: Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race

by Derald Wing Sue Author Derald Wing Sue tackles a subject head on that many people already know—that race, racism, privilege, bias, and the like are very difficult topics to discuss for anyone, regardless of their racial identity and most certainly for young adults. Sue unpacks the difficulties many individuals face in discussing racial issues due to psychological and social barriers, and then explains how we must courageously embrace these conversations, because “silence and inaction only perpetuate the status quo of race relations.” He goes on to argue that the idea of engaging discussions with the perspective of colorblindness really means that we are just “color mute.”

Sue divides the book into 13 chapters, but further breaks them into six subsections: • Section One – The Characteristics, Dynamics, and Meaning of Race Talk • Section Two – The Constraining Ground Rules for Race Talk • Section Three – Why is it Difficult for People of Color to Talk About Race?

• Section Four – Why is it Difficult for White People to Talk About Race?

• Section Five – Race Talk and Special Group Consideration • Section Six – Guidelines, Conditions, and Solutions for Having Honest Racial Dialogue This book not only points out problems in the current process by which we engage discussions of race, but highlights the importance of such discussions, in addition to giving clear suggestions, supported by research in the field, to develop strategies to engage, rather than evade, issues of race in our classrooms as well as our daily lives.

Compiled by Aaron Timmons, four-diamond coach from Greenhill School in Texas

The J.W. Patterson Foundation for Academic Excellence in Speech and Debate in conjunction with The University of Kentucky Debate Team, invite you to celebrate the 45th anniversary of The Kentucky National Tournament of Champions with a spectacular, rst-time event

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

LEGENDS DEBATE from 1975 -1976, two-time TOC Winners from Cardinal Spellman High School

Leo Gagion + John Bredehoft coached by Larry Clinton

will debate

from 2010 -2011, two-time TOC Winners from Westminster High School

Daniel Taylor + Ellis Allen coached by Jenny Alme

7:00 P.M. APRIL 30, 2016 THE CAMPBELL HOUSE HOTEL LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY The Legends Debate will be judged by NINE Legendary Debaters represenƟng each decade from the 1970’s to the present, and will be chaired by Bill Smelko, NDT runner up in 1975. Bill has judged in all decades, from the 1970’s to the present, including the 2015 TOC, NFL and NDT. He chairs this legendary panel:

representing the 1970’s

Tom Rollins, NDT top speaker in 1975 and 1978 Gil Skillman, NDT top speaker in 1977

representing the 1980’s

Lenny Gail, TOC top speaker in 1981 and NDT Champion in 1984 Ouita Papka-Michel, NDT Champion in 1986

representing the 1990’s

Michael GoƩlieb, NDT Champion and NDT top speaker in 1998 and 1999 Paul Skiermont, TOC Champion in 1995, and NDT top speaker in 1994 and 1995

representing the 2000’s

Tristen Morales, NDT Champion in 2003 and 2005 MaƩ Fisher, TOC Champion in 2007 and NDT Champion in 2011

for FRONT ROW seats, additional information on the 45th Anniversary of the TOC and to be included in future mailings, contact: J.W. PaƩerson, jwpaƩ00@uky.edu

YOUR RESOURCE PACKAGE IS GETTING STRONGER!

Access even more tools and materials Interpretation: Creating a Solid Foundation This new guide discusses the different components that make a successful Interpretation. Read up on how to construct an effective scene, the importance of staying on top of the little things, and many more tips and tricks that will help set you apart!

Event

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• Discounts to Attend Summer, Fall, and Winter Online Institutes • Textbooks • Software Support

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Policy Debate Congressional Debate Extemporaneous Speaking Interpretation Original Oratory

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As a coach, the National Speech & Debate Association’s online resources help me be more efficient and knowledgeable on all events. The resources are like having assistant coaches at my disposal to help my team grow and succeed.

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+ $199

I have used HeinOnline in the past to conduct research for Public Forum Debate, and it was quite helpful. The updated list of databases enhances my ability to find unique and compelling evidence. I’m grateful for this research tool. – Jonathan Goldberg, Student

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Taking a lighthearted approach,

Competition Events

POI-fect Beginnings

by Randall McCutcheon

Hall of Fame coach Randall McCutcheon aims to demystify Program Oral Interpretation for beginners with ideas for developing clever themes as well as techniques every interper should consider.

“Le crayon est sur la table.” — Voltaire (Max Shulman)

C

learly, we have much to learn from Max. Non-sequiturs and nonsense come to mind.

That, and the act of creating each new POI should make you scarcely able to contain yourself!

So, as the rosy fingers of dawn creep through your window, shout “Huzzah”—after making certain, of course, that your drop-seat pajamas haven’t become entangled in the bedsprings. Next, bound joyously from bed. Racing to the kitchen, call out, “Mother, give me to eat.”

It should not surprise you, then, that one of my most valued possessions is a signed, first edition of the book Barefoot Boy With Cheek. Why? Max spoke to me. Max taught me that words can change who you are.

But I digress.

Getting Started What does this boisterous badinage (a doff of the cap to Rocky and Bullwinkle) mean to you? This article is nothing more than a simple attempt to change the course of POI history. Timing, of course, is everything. For students who have not yet competed at their state or district tournaments, this article should provide direction

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for what is possible. Moreover, qualifiers to Nationals in POI are allowed to make improvements in their programs prior to tournament registration in June.

You might start by asking a student to name her favorite poem, play, or novel. Or begin with one of your most cherished chestnuts.

Works of literature speak to each other. All you have to do is to listen.

So, read what follows intently, with all your ears. Three POI examples follow to serve as inspiration.

1 Speak Like Rain The first concept, “Speak Like Rain,” was created for actual competition and for the textbook Glencoe Speech. Using that POI, one of my students won a state championship and a Catholic Forensic League national championship. A passage from Isak Dinesen’s Out of Africa inspired the theme. Dinesen suggests that sometimes the sound of poetry might be more important than the meaning. The challenge, then, became to find “sound” poems. An excerpt from Out of Africa provided the second genre (prose) necessary for a POI. (For a condensed, annotated version of this program, see page 44.)

2 You’re So Vain Suppose you have a student who never passes by a shiny object without studying his reflected image.

Let’s call him Biff Narcissus. A good bad boy. To amuse yourself, you suggest to Biff that he might enjoy developing a POI around the theme: mirrors. He’s so vain, he probably thinks this Interp is about him. (Sorry, Carly.)

Too often, in my opinion, students in POI have an introduction that is two or three sentences long. The first sentence is a banal rhetorical question: “Have you ever thought about mirrors?” Then the title and author of the first selection are revealed—maybe, Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone by Eduardo Galeano. Finally, an invitation is given for you to share seven minutes of bad luck as he shatters the mirrors and any hope you ever had for quiet reflection.

Instead, what you might suggest for a POI on mirrors is to develop the theme, “You’re So Vain.”

Consider the following introduction (originally written for inclusion in the textbook Glencoe Speech)—after a brief teaser from the poem referenced in the introduction, by Joyce Carol Oates:

If you look in a mirror and raise one hand, which hand are you really raising in your mirror image? Joyce Carol Oates poses this question in her poem “Love Letter, with Static Interference from Einstein’s Brain.”

Perhaps Oates borrowed this mirror motif from a story about Lewis Carroll reported in the London Times on January 22, 1932. According to this story, Carroll asked his young cousin Alice Raikes in which hand she held an orange. Alice replied,

He replied: “I do love to see those arms and legs fly.” Patton’s passion aside, the wars we fight today are unlike those that Patton fought.

Death, however, still haunts us.

In this POI, the student could begin with Patton’s famous “Speech to the Troops.” Keep in mind that there are different versions of his remarks—see one potential excerpt below.

This could serve as the teaser as or the first selection after the introduction:

“The right.” So Carroll asked the girl to stand before a mirror and tell

War is a bloody, killing business.

him in which hand she now held the

You’ve got to spill their blood,

orange. And Alice replied, “The left.”

or they will spill yours. Rip them

For you see, in a mirror, all

up the belly. Shoot them in the

asymmetrical objects go the other

guts. When shells are hitting all

way. So let us go the other way...

around you and you wipe the

through the looking glass that is

dirt off your face and realize that

poetry.

instead of dirt it’s the blood and

We begin our journey with

guts of what once was your best

an excerpt from Ishmael Reed’s

friend beside you, you’ll know

“beware: do not read this poem.”

what to do!

tonite, thriller was

abt an ol woman, so vain she

surrounded herself w/ many mirrors...

Another selection you might use in this program is Fuddy Meers (fuzzy mirrors), a play by David Lindsay-Abaire, a former student of mine, national finalist in Prose, and Pulitzer-Prize winner.

3 In The Spirit Of Love General George Patton was asked why he was so passionate about war.

What follows are selection ideas that could be woven between the Patton passages from his speech to the troops. Before each of these cuttings, I recommend leading in with a few more sentences from Patton’s speech. The effect is that Patton’s celebration of war is interrupted by antiwar passages.

Therefore, to make this program more powerful, I would list the titles and authors during the introduction, so the selections flow together.

[All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Remarque]

Synopsis: The setting in All Quiet on the Western Front is a battlefield. The narrator, Paul, experiences the constant pounding of bombs. Crusty, moldy bread is his only sustenance. At night, Paul and the other soldiers confront a different type of attack: emboldened, starving rats crawl on the faces of the soldiers, hoping to find the crumbs from that bread—sometimes hundreds of rats, as Paul, quietly in the mud, awaits the other enemy. [a Patton excerpt] [Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo]

Synopsis: The reader meets Jon Bonham, an American soldier serving in World War I. When Bonham awakes in a hospital bed, he discovers that an exploding artillery shell made him a prisoner in his own body. Bonham lost his arms, legs, and all of his face. He learns to communicate with others by banging his head on the pillow: Morse code.

Bonham soon realizes that he will live this way for the rest of his life, with a perfectly functioning mind and no hope.

(A bit of trivia: Fearing that the book might hurt the war effort, Johnny Got His Gun was banned during World War II.) (continued on page 46)

Works of literature speak to each other.

All you have to do is to listen.”

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 43

As teachers, we cannot allow POI to be a missed opportunity. The programs need to be truly creative— the written introductions and transitions inspiring, the selections challenging, the themes unforgettable.”

Author’s Note: The programs in this article have been affected by limited space and copyright concerns. You will need to fill in the blanks, but I aim for clarity. If you have questions or need help finding additional literature, please contact me at rjmccutcheon7@aol.com.

SPEAK LIKE RAIN [Teaser - “Dream Boogie” by Langston Hughes]

Listen closely: You’ll hear their feet Beating out and beating out— Hey, pop!

Rebop!

Mop!

This POI begins with a short poem by Langston Hughes. At left is a possible teaser excerpt. Following the poem, the student delivers a memorized introduction. Other selections are included later in the program to support the “Speak Like Rain” theme.

Y-e-a-h [Introduction] For Langston Hughes, the “Y-e-a-h” in his poem “Dream Boogie” is an affirmation of life.

The knowing that no matter how many dreams may be deferred there is still the possibility, the hope for a happy beat. And we hear this happy beat from the playgrounds in Harlem to the plantations of East Africa.

Isak Dinesen, who spent part of her life on a plantation in Kenya, once observed how Kikuyu tribesfolk reacted to their first hearing of rhymed verse.

[Out Of Africa by Isak Dinesen]

To amuse herself one evening, Isak Dinesen spoke to the tribesfolk in Swahili verse. “Ngumbe na-pende chumbe, Malaya-mbya.

Wakamba na-kulu mamba.” The meaning of the poetry was of no consequence to the tribesmen... only the sounds.

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The POI continues with an excerpt from Dinesen’s novel that connects the prose to her experience in Kenya.

After the excerpt is a transition into the next poem.

SPARK INSIGHT

SPEAK LIKE RAIN (continued) [“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll]

Twas brillig and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe....

These selection ideas are shown on two pages to conserve space, but the dotted lines actually represent potential page turns. Each cutting may appear on a different page in the binder to help differentiate shifts in character, scene, mood, etc.

[Transition] Isak Dinesen discovered that the tribesfolk would wait for the rhyme and laugh at it when it came. When she tried to get them to finish a poem she had begun, they would not. They turned their heads away.

[“Cracked Record Blues” by Kenneth Fearing]

If you listen once or twice you know it’s not the needle, or the tune, but a crack in the record when sometimes a phonograph falters and repeats, and repeats, and repeats, and repeats, and repeats...

This poem is especially interesting here because it’s written from a record’s point of view—and because, like Dinesen’s experience, the skipping record never finishes.

All it has to do is to, do is to, do is to, do is to start at the beginning and continue to the end.

[Transition] Dinesen recalled that as the tribesfolk became used to the idea of poetry, they begged, “Speak again. Speak like rain.” Although Dinesen did not know why they thought verse to be like rain, she believed it to be an expression of applause. For in Africa, rain was always longed for and welcomed.

[“Jazz Fantasia” by Carl Sandburg]

Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoes, sob on, the long cool winding saxophones Go to it, O jazzmen.

[Additional Literature]

Continue weaving prose, poetry, and/ or drama throughout to enhance the theme and reach the desired length.

[Ending Clinch Line] So let us always give this gift to each other [set up pause], to speak like rain.

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 45

(continued from page 43)

[a Patton excerpt] “next to of course god america i”

by E. E. Cummings next to of course god america i love you land of the pilgrims’ and so forth oh... heroic happy dead who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter they did not stop to think they died instead...

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

[a Patton excerpt]

Note: After the last Patton section, the student might conclude with Mark Twain’s mock encomium, “War Prayer” (see excerpt below). Twain’s last words serve as the final words in the POI—as well as the overall theme.

For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimmage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet!

We ask it, in the spirit of love...

POI-e-i-e-i-o My hope is that this article will offer insights to coaches younger than I (essentially everyone in the National Speech & Debate Association).

These insights were drawn from a lifelong love of oral interpretation.

I was fortunate to take two courses in oral interpretation as an undergraduate and one in graduate school. Furthermore, I went on to teach courses in oral interpretation at the University of Nebraska, to study with Charlotte Lee, and later to write the chapter on oral interpretation in the textbook Glencoe Speech.

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So what did I learn? Our students will read to their children someday. Other than unconditional love, the love of books may be the greatest gift a child can receive. Read well, the words come alive. What parent doesn’t want to hear a child plead: Please, please read me another book.

As teachers, we cannot allow POI to be a missed opportunity.

The programs need to be truly creative—the written introductions and transitions inspiring, the selections challenging, the themes unforgettable.

But I digress.

Not To Put A Fine Point On It The chapter on oral interpretation in Glencoe Speech was my way of paying homage to Charlotte Lee. Lee defined oral interpretation as “the art of sharing a work of literary art in its intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic entirety.” Or, as I like to say: reading aloud well.

So, as you are working on developing a POI, I urge you to consider some of the most debated issues.

Interpretation vs. Acting If you can accurately mimic the voice of a favorite celebrity or cartoon character, you are gifted in the skill of impression.

You should not, however, confuse this ability with the

art of oral interpretation. In oral interpretation, you do not impersonate a familiar voice— be it Sarah Palin’s or Homer Simpson’s.

Rather, you try to create appropriate and original voices to give life to words on a page.

You use your voice and body to share that word color with others. As you are creating characters, keep in mind that there is a difference between “acting” and “interpretation.”

I’m certain that there are many ways to define that difference, but I was taught to think of acting as “becoming” and interpretation as “suggesting.” In other words, in interpretation the performer might tear up during an emotional scene. If the tear runs down her cheek, she is acting.

The quoteinvestigator.com has attributed George Burn’s familiar advice to many possible sources. But it hardly matters.

Interpers need to consider this truth. So George Burns, please say “Goodnight, Gracie” one more time. “Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”

I Can See You In oral interpretation, how much eye contact is enough?

How often should a student look up from the script? These questions are a source of great controversy among the teachers of POI. Some say that a 50-50 balance is appropriate. That would be true if the purpose

of POI was to entertain the script.

The audience will soon grow tired of seeing the top of the performer’s head. The most common mistake made by a performer is to speak as his head is moving up or down. This “bobbing head effect” can make the audience members seasick.

To read aloud well requires learning many techniques but, in my opinion, effective eye contact is the most important. Charlotte Lee taught that 90% of any POI should be spent looking at the audience and the other 10% at the script. The reason for occasionally having eyes on the script is to remind the audience that the POI performer is sharing a work of literature with them.

The end result is that students should memorize the entire program.

Performers should look down because they choose to, not because they have to. At the beginning of the presentation, therefore, the student still not speaking, references it is a POI by appearing—with head down—to be reading from the script.

After a few seconds the student raises his head and, looking into the eyes of an audience member, begins the performance. The POI continues with the student occasionally studying the script—head down— for a second or two. All of the times the performer is “reading” are planned and practiced. Consider the following three methods to master eye contact with audience members.

Direct Extended The most effective interpers break the “fourth wall” as much as possible.

The fourth wall is a theatrical term for the imaginary “wall” that exists between actors on stage and the audience. In direct extended eye

contact, the interper connects NOT by glancing in the direction of an audience member but by crawling inside the eyes of each audience member to sense what each person is thinking and, then, adapting— addressing audience members one at a time to deliver words, phrases, or sentences. Of course, any selection that has multiple characters requires consistent focal points for each of those characters. If the performer ever speaks without crawling into the eyes of someone, the power of the performance is lessened. The exceptions to that rule are “general eye contact” and “scene setting.”

General When do you not look at one specfic person but, instead, have your eyes sweep across the audience as you speak? Common bonding pronouns—we, our, us, all—call for this approach. Think of what you would do with your eyes when saying the words: We the people.

The language suggests scanning the room. But when an interper randomly glances around the room, they are said to have “flitting eyes.” And that’s not a good thing.

Scene Setting Effective interpers often use a technique known as scene setting.

They use their eyes to focus the scene they are describing on an imaginary stage in front of them.

This helps the audience members to see that same scene in their imaginations. If the persona in a poem, for example, is watching the casket lowering at a funeral, the POI performer can have her eyes watching that same lowering.

Performed believably, the audience

sees on that imaginary stage what the performer sees: theater of the mind.

Remember to always choose direct extended eye contact unless the literature demands general eye contact or scene setting. Never let an audience member’s mind wander.

The Last Huzzah In my first year of coaching, Nebraska had a speech event that required the interpretation of poetry. A week before the district qualifier for State, I noticed a student in my English class had a cold. Aha, I thought.

Handing her a copy of Ogden Nash’s poem “Common Cold,” I invited her to join the speech team. After explaining that she should simply read the poem while sniffling, wheezing, and coughing, I advised her to incorporate some nauseating physicalization.

Handing her a collection of Ogden Nash poems, I said that she could pick out any she liked for the rest of her program—from smiles to crocodiles—but that she should continue replicating the same symptoms of illness. The theme: “Catching Cold.”

Silly. Ridiculous. She won.

I let everyone down. You can do better.

But I digress.

Hall of Fame member Randall McCutcheon has coached more than 50 finalists and 18 state champions in Oral Interpretation in four different states, authored 11 books including two national book award winners—Get Off My Brain, Can You Find It?, Glencoe Speech, Journalism Matters— and four prep books on the ACT and SAT.

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 47

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YOUR OTHER FAMILY MEMBER. YOUR BEST FRIEND. YOUR SATURDAY SITTER. YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN. YOUR MENTOR.

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THEY RECOGNIZE YOUR GREATNESS. WHY NOT RETURN THE FAVOR?

Visit the National Speech & Debate Association website at

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Diamond Coach Recognition

u Fourth DIAMOND u Mitch Gaffer Huron HS, SD January 11, 2016 • 10,001 Points

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u Third DIAMOND u Ashley Novak Arcadia HS, CA January 11, 2016 • 11,782 Points Rostrum | WINTER 2016 51

DIAMOND COACH RECOGNITION

52

u Second DIAMOND u Danny Stottlemyre Seminole HS, TX October 7, 2015 • 5,827 Points

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Rostrum | WINTER 2016

DIAMOND COACH RECOGNITION

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u First DIAMOND u Eric Jeraci Michael Krop HS, FL November 13, 2015 • 2,257 Points Rostrum | WINTER 2016 53

DIAMOND COACH RECOGNITION

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Advertise your speech and debate openings with us!

As a service to member schools, the National Speech & Debate Association offers complimentary employment listings on our website and also in Rostrum. For $100, you may reserve a custom, third-page print ad with larger font, optional logo, and more. We’ll even help you design your ad! Contact us at editor@speechanddebate.org or call us at (920) 748-6206 to reserve your ad today. Our next issue will be published in mid-April!

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Correction

In the Fall 2015 Rostrum, McEachern High School should have been listed as the 2014-15 Leading Chapter Award recipient for the Georgia Northern Mountain District. We deeply regret this error.

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Rostrum | WINTER 2016

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Educational Partnerships Bringing EvidenceBased Argumentation (EBATM) to the Nation The National Speech & Debate Association is excited to announce our partnership with the Boston Debate League to bring its EvidenceBased Argumentation (EBATM ) initiative to classrooms across the United States.

EBATM is a professional development program that helps teachers in all disciplines create a classroom environment where students are engaged in the art of creating an argument, in any subject, by evaluating evidence, developing claims, and using sound reasoning.

That sounds familiar, right? It’s core to what we teach through speech and debate. The activities created for EBATM in Boston extend this skill to things like explaining the extinction of dinosaurs, exploring the meaning of a Shakespeare sonnet, and group revision of student writing.

“The Boston Debate League is thrilled to partner with the NSDA

to bring EBATM to districts across the country,” said Lynne Reznick, Interim Executive Director of the Boston Debate League. “Over the past five years, EBATM has grown in prominence across the Boston Public Schools (BPS). This year, 300 teachers in eight BPS partner schools use EBATM to engage 3,500 students in deep argumentation, peer collaboration, and content mastery.”

Currently, the National Speech & Debate Association is approaching other school districts to add EBATM and speech and debate programs to their high schools and middle schools. Growing our community of schools and competitors benefits all of the membership and will increase the national profile of speech and debate.

Check out the following pages for additional information and statistics that highlight the impacts these debate-centric tools can have on an entire school district!

National Speech & Debate Association Joins 21st Century Learning Coalition P21, the leading organization advocating for 21st century learning for all students, officially welcomed the National Speech & Debate Association as an organizational member in 2015. By becoming a member, we join P21’s diverse coalition of business community, education leaders, and policy makers working together to prepare learners along the entire continuum of learning.

The Association will contribute to P21’s thought leadership, state support, and the 21st Century Learning Exemplar Program, alongside existing P21 members, partners, and states, to make innovative teaching and learning a reality for all students.

“Students’ success depends on hands-on, experiential learning, which is why we are thrilled to welcome the National Speech & Debate Association and work together to ensure students all over the country get access to meaningful and relevant learning experiences that will best prepare them for the future,” said Helen Soulé, P21 Executive Director.

To learn more, visit www.p21.org.

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 59

Evidence-Based Argumentation Program Evidence-Based Argumentation (EBATM) is a professional development program that supports teachers in all disciplines to

Examples of EBATM in the Classroom:

create a classroom environment where students regularly practice the 21st century skills of critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, questioning, and problem solving. Teachers guide students through a progression of skills as they work toward producing sustained, multifaceted arguments that draw on evidence from a range of sources and are organized around a central thesis.

Biology students debate about which characteristic of life is the most important.

EBATM is not a prescribed curriculum. Rather, it gives teachers a set of tools they can use to teach their existing district or school curriculum. With EBATM, the classroom experience progresses from one where teachers are in front of the room conveying information or asking students to participate in unengaging and personally irrelevant rote drills to a classroom experience where students are empowered in their own education and are regularly and actively

Math students explore which is the best method of finding the slope of a line.

practicing critical thinking, reading, writing, and speaking.

As students engage in this work, they both deepen their content knowledge and learn the basic skills of argumentation. Students learn to analyze competing claims from multiple sources to construct arguments based on textual evidence and apply them to real world solutions, foundational skills emphasized in state educational standards.

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History students dig into historians’ opposing views about which battle was the turning point in World War II.

Evidence-Based Argumentation in Action You walk into a classroom to observe a biology lesson on organelles, expecting to see a lecture, maybe students taking notes, or an activity involving the textbook and worksheets. As you enter, you are surprised to see students already in their seats organized into five different teams. Hurried whispers stop as the teacher announces a debate is about to begin. The first speaker stands and presents an impassioned defense of mitochondria’s status as the most important organelle in a cell, demonstrating a detailed understanding of its functions and citing specific passages from the textbook to support these claims. Representatives from the four remaining teams stand in turn, presenting equally strong and evidenced cases for ribosomes, vacuoles, and other assigned organelles.

What follows is nothing short of incredible; the teams embark on a series of back-and-forth exchanges as different students in each group take turns assuming the roles of proponent, defender, questioner, and closer. Every student in the class is involved in this weaving together of content mastery with strategic thinking about what it takes to win the debate. The announcement of the winner immediately provokes a new round of discussion over the merits of each side’s arguments.

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The Impact of Evidence-Based Argumentation EBATM trains teachers to structure a classroom where students are engaging each other in debate and discussion over the day’s content rather than one where students memorize information through lecture, note taking, worksheets, and textbook reading. In doing so, they learn the basic skill of analyzing competing claims from multiple sources in order to construct a reasoned argument founded on evidence, a skill they will need throughout the rest of their lives.

The following percentage of teachers report that when they consistently use EBATM in their classroom, students improve their ...

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+90%

+93%

+100%

Reading Skills

Writing Skills

Oral Language Skills

+93%

+79%

+96%

Understanding of Class Content

Engagement in Learning

Common Core Focused Skills

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The use of debate in my science classroom has increased the motivation and engagement of my most apathetic students. They love the competitive nature of debate and eagerly delve into texts that they otherwise typically avoid.”

– Science Teacher

Evidence-Based Argumentation By the Numbers Pre and Post Common Core-aligned EBATM assessments at two Boston Public Schools found significant increases in student skills outlined in the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards. Specifically[1]: • 27% increase in students who could evaluate an argument, claims, and reasoning in a text.

• 35% increase in students who could write arguments to support claims using valid reasoning and evidence.

• 32% increase in students who could cite specific textual evidence to support conclusions.

One EBATM school showed: 49% school-wide improvement in its students’ ability to write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or text, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

115% school-wide improvement in its students’ ability to draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

10% school-wide improvement in their Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores, and the headmaster of that school “can absolutely say it was because of EBATM.”

It’s amazing to me that this activity has allowed me to push my students into such deeper thinking at the same time that I’m doing an activity that increases engagement of even the most reluctant student.”

– EBATM Teacher

[1] 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 Boston Debate League administered and graded assessments created by Harvard Ph.D. Education students

How to Start a Program in Your School District By working with school districts, we create programs that provide the needed resources, training, and support all teachers need to successfully implement EBATM in their classes.

To learn more about Evidence-Based Argumentation, please contact Nicole Wanzer-Serrano, Director of Membership, at nicole.wanzer-serrano@speechanddebate.org or visit our website at www.speechanddebate.org/EBA.

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First Two Skills in the EBATM Skill Progression

Learning Argumentation One of the many EBATM activities that teachers are taught to use include Evidence Scavenger Hunts to teach material and reinforce Skill 1 and Skill 2 (outlined below). On the opposite page, we’ve included a sample exercise that could be used in a high school literature class.

REVIEW Evidence-Based Argumentation (EBA ) is a professional development program that helps teachers in all disciplines create a classroom environment where students are engaged in the art of creating an argument, in any subject, by evaluating evidence, developing claims, and using sound reasoning.

TM

LEARN MORE

EBA Skill #1: Make a Basic Argument (Claim + Evidence) Student Objectives • I dentify claims and relevant evidence (both supporting and opposing the claim) from a text.

• A rticulate own claims and relevant evidence (both supporting and opposing the claim). Evidence can come from both text and non-text sources.

VOCABULARY

+

Claim: A debatable statement.

Evidence: Any factual information presented to support a claim.

EBA Skill #2: Make a Complete Argument (Claim + Evidence + Reasoning) Student Objectives • Distinguish between a simple assertion and a complete argument.

• Identify an author’s use of reasoning to link evidence to a claim.

VOCABULARY

+

Reasoning: Key link in your argument that explains how your evidence helps prove your claim.

• Provide reasoning to support own arguments, linking evidence to claim, to make a complete argument.

Visit www.speechanddebate.org/EBA or email nicole.wanzer-serrano@speechanddebate.org.

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Evidence Scavenger Hunt: EBATM Skill #2 “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe Name: ___________________________________

Class: ____________________

Date: _______________

Directions: Students will race in pairs to both find textual evidence and to explain how the text supports the claim. Points will be awarded: 1. Every team that correctly completes the evidence and reasoning will receive 1 point.

2. The first group to do so for each claim will receive 2 points.

3. The best reasoning for each claim will receive 3 points.

When he first hears a strange noise, the narrator tries to convince himself that nothing is out of the ordinary.

At first, the presence of the raven brightens the narrator’s mood.

The narrator once loved a woman named Lenore, and is grieving her loss.

The raven represents a truthteller, whether sharing words of good or evil.

The word “nevermore” speaks of the narrator’s loss of hope.

EVIDENCE

REASONING

1 ) Check the supporting evidence from the poem that BEST supports this claim.

2 ) Explain how the evidence supports the claim.

o

“For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore – Nameless here for evermore.”

o

“‘Tis some visitor,’ I muttered, ‘tapping at my chamber door – Only this, and nothing more.’”

o

“And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me – filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before.”

o

“In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he”

o

“But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only, That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.”

o

“Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore”

o

“Respite – respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!”

o

“From my books surcease of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore – For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

o

“And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, ‘Lenore!’”

o o o

“‘Prophet!’ said I, ‘thing of evil! – prophet still, if bird or devil!’”

“This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, ‘Lenore!’”

“But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling” Find your own quote from the poem to support this claim!

TEMPLATE

CLAIM

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Richard J. Holland Memorial Scholarship

The Holland Family Legacy Foundation has established the Richard Holland Memorial Scholarship to be awarded annually to a chosen qualified applicant. The purpose of this scholarship is to continue the legacy of Richard Holland—his passion for helping people while enjoying life. The scholarship is a $2,500 award, renewable for up to three additional years.

Accepting Applications through March 15, 2016 Please visit www.rjhollandscholarship.org for more information or check out Facebook/RichardJHollandMemorialScholarship.

The Holland Family Legacy Foundation info@rjhollandscholarship.org 3804 Dutton Drive, Plano, TX 75023

MARCH

World Speech Day #unexpectedvoices

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#voicesofthefuture

Help World Speech Day resonate in your corner of the world!

Visit our website to:

• Learn how to generate schoolwide interest in the day

• Find classroom activities to help all students take part • Use a press release template to generate community interest in your World Speech Day plans • Get your students excited about creating their own short, ideadriven events and speeches!

The theme for the inaugural year of World Speech Day is “A Better World.”

Hundreds of events are already planned and listed on the World Speech Day site.

We’re also working to make this day an official U.S. celebration of speech and debate educators. See how YOU can get involved and follow our progress online!

Photos: www.worldspeechday.com

www.speechanddebate.org/worldspeechday

Be part of something big!

From #unexpectedvoices come remarkable ideas

#unexpectedvoices

#voicesofthefuture

MARCH

15

WORLD SPEECH DAY

Celebrating speeches and speech making across the world, with live events that bring to life the power of speeches to share ideas.” — www.worldspeechday.com

MARCH 15

2016

Support National Speech & Debate Education Day! As part of the first-ever World Speech Day, we’ve secured support from Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa as lead co-sponsor of a Senate resolution designating March 15, 2016, as National Speech & Debate Education Day.

We need your help to generate support for the resolution from your state’s U.S. senators!

We’ve provided sample text and contact information for you to use online at www.speechanddebate.org/worldspeechday.

Senators respond to requests from their home state, and we NEED co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle for this resolution to become a reality. Contacting your senators will make all the difference!

Please read the proposed resolution, which honors the work of speech and debate students and coaches and recognizes the impact of the activity on youth, schools, and the world!

Then contact your state’s U.S. senators to ask for their support, too. Our email templates make it easy for anyone to get involved—simply copy and paste!

World Speech Day #unexpectedvoices

#voicesofthefuture

www.speechanddebate.org/worldspeechday

MARCH

WORLD SPEECH DAY

Proposed Senate Resolution Expressing support for the designation of March 15, 2016, as ‘National Speech & Debate Education Day.’ Whereas it is essential for youth to learn and practice the art of communicating, with and apart from technology; Whereas speech and debate education offers students myriad forms of public speaking through which to develop their talents and exercise their unique voice and character; Whereas speech and debate gives students the 21st century skills of communication, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration;

Whereas important ideas, texts, and philosophies have the opportunity to flourish when they have been analyzed critically and communicated effectively;

Whereas personal, professional, and civic interactions are enhanced by their participants’ abilities to listen, concur, question, and even dissent with reason and compassion; Whereas students who participate in speech and debate have chosen a challenging activity that requires regular practice, dedication, and hard work; Whereas teachers and coaches of speech and debate devote in-school, after-school, and weekend hours to equip students with life-changing skills and opportunities; Whereas National Speech & Debate Education Day emphasizes the lifelong impact of providing citizens with the confidence and preparation to both discern and share their views; Whereas National Speech & Debate Education Day acknowledges that most achievements, celebrations, commemorations, and pivotal moments in modern history begin, end, or are crystallized with public address; Whereas National Speech & Debate Education Day recognizes that learning to research, construct, and present an argument is integral to personal advocacy, social movements, and the making of public policy; Whereas the National Speech & Debate Association, in conjunction with national and local partners, honors and celebrates the importance of speech and debate through National Speech & Debate Education Day; Whereas National Speech & Debate Education Day emphasizes the importance of speech and debate instruction and its integration across grade levels and disciplines;

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate: 1) Designates March 15, 2016, as ‘National Speech & Debate Education Day’; 2) Strongly affirms the purposes of National Speech & Debate Education Day; and 3) Encourages educational institutions, businesses, community and civic associations, and all citizens to celebrate and promote National Speech & Debate Education Day.

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NATIONAL SPEECH & DEBATE ASSOCIATION

TROPHY SHOP Order tournament trophies, school awards, plaques, medals, and more from the National Speech & Debate Association’s Trophy Shop!

We have thousands to choose from, or you can create customized awards for your event! As a member, you have access to wholesale prices and early invoicing.

Learn more at www.speechanddebate.org/trophyshop

Around the Globe:

International Competition Heats Up for USA Debate

DEBATE

by Liz Yount

I

never truly understood what it meant to be an American representing my country in international competition until the chief adjudicator of our octafinal round in Zagreb, Croatia, announced, “It was a unanimous decision for the United States.” The impact of that statement resonated again during the final round, when I hugged my teammates on stage in front of hundreds of cheering people after the judges revealed we had just championed the largest tournament ever held in Europe.

Six debaters and two coaches from across the country traveled to Zagreb, Croatia, December 16-22 to compete in the Winter Holidays Open tournament.

After nearly 15 hours of travel and three unsatisfying airplane meals later, we all arrived at the quaint Croatian hotel on Thursday night, exhausted yet eager to begin preparation for the tournament. We practiced in the hotel and sharpened our knowledge on topics ranging from advanced artificial intelligence to Chinese economics.

At the tournament on Friday, the USA Debate team

entered two teams into a pool consisting of 88 teams from 18 countries and four continents. Both American teams advanced far into the elimination rounds, where USA Blue took third place overall, and my team, USA Red, won first place, beating the Croatian national team in the final round. All three members of USA Blue also placed in the top 10 speakers out of 280 total debaters.

This tournament was my first adventure ever leaving our country, and it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. The nine-hour time difference resulted in a few sleepless nights and

missed alarms—but more importantly, I gained a new respect and appreciation for the demands of international competition.

Debate is something very familiar to me, and witnessing students in a foreign country participating in the same activity brought me comfort. It created an immediate sense of unity and mutual understanding, not only with debaters from other countries, but also within our own team.

“The bond of the team seemed genuinely closer,” team manager and coach Cindi Timmons said. “We seem to have

(left to right) Members of the 2015-2016 USA Debate team include Matthew Zheng, Julia Lauer, Amit Kukreja, Joshua May, Sonya Huang, Nikhil Ramaswamy, Milan Amritraj, Liz Yount, and Nikolas Angelopoulos.

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crossed that threshold from team to family. It’s something you hope for but it’s never guaranteed.”

Mrs. Timmons said the team has improved by leaps and bounds since its first meeting in September at the Holy Cross tournament in New Orleans and the subsequent public debate events sponsored by the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Both teams in Zagreb “demonstrated consistency and skill when crafting arguments, developing narratives, and offering deadly points of information,” she said.

“Seeing the team come together for that spectacular result, coming off the really heavy personal loss of Tuna, was amazing,” Mrs. Timmons explained. “People totally rose to the occasion.

Everyone stepped up, and we saw some of the best performances from the three people who happened to be in that final round.”

Mrs. Timmons said being a member of the USA national team in another country brings a much greater responsibility as a debater and as an individual.

She believes we are moving from appreciating the team in an intellectual sense to understanding its greater significance in the world after our first international tournament as a group.

“I don’t think I heard someone deliver a decision

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specifically for the United States as a country until my first international tournament,” Mrs. Timmons said. “It’s very much an honor. It was an unexpected emotional reaction that I didn’t know I would feel.”

Nikolas Angelopoulos is a senior at Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA and a threeyear member of the USA Debate team. Over the years, he has witnessed the team become more comfortable with the World Schools format. However, he said he is always nervous at the beginning of each season.

“There’s always the concern that we’re not as good as we were last year, until it actually happens,” Nik said. “Now, more than ever, there is an increasing international perception of us as a team that’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Although the team still has areas in need of improvement, he said that it has gained notoriety over the years from winning, and that builds a stronger international reputation.

“I want to win the world championship,” Nik smiled.

“That’s the ultimate goal.”

Mrs. Timmons also believes the team has begun working together as a consistent unit with the common goal of succeeding at the world championship this July in Stuttgart, Germany.

“In going to Zagreb, [my husband] Aaron and I absolutely believe we’ve selected the best team,” she said.

Since my experiences in Croatia, moments spent preparing for competition are not for myself, for my school, or even for my state—but rather, for my country. That is an astonishing thought, which continues to reinvent itself miraculously with each tournament. When I dwell on this realization, it

is as humbling and beautiful as the first time I heard a unanimous decision delivered for the United States. Being a member of the USA Debate team has not only given me clarity regarding my identity as an American, but it has also provided me with a clear purpose greater than myself.

(from top) Teammates Julia Lauer, Amit Kukreja, Liz Yount, and Milan Amritraj bonded in New York City. • The USA Debate team took part in a Coolidge vs. Reagan debate at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics in November. Matthew Zheng and Sonya Huang defended Reagan, while Nikhil Ramaswamy and Joshua May sided with Coolidge. • During the Winter Holidays Open in December, Liz Yount debated as part of the champion USA Red team in Zagreb, Croatia.

2016 WORLD SCHOOLS

DEBATE CAMP DEBATE

“The triumphs of the tongue have rivaled, if not surpassed, those of the sword.” — Calvin Coolidge

Train for World Schools Debate with members of USA Debate!

June 26–July 5 In Scenic Plymouth Notch, Vermont

Could you be the next member of USA Debate?

Camp sessions will be taught by veteran members of USA Debate, internationallyrenowned content experts and highly-successful college debate coaches. This camp has a track record of helping debaters become competitive candidates for USA Debate, and the camp will provide inside tips about the USA Debate application process from USA Debate alumni. You’ll also have the chance to visit nearby Dartmouth College.

Sign up today at CoolidgeFoundation.org

Donus D. Roberts Quad Ruby Coach Recognition The Association is proud to honor coaches who have earned their first 1,000 points.

74

(October 15, 2015 through January 15, 2016)

Bill M. Thompson

NSU University School, FL

1,439

Matthew Eledge

Millard North High School, NE

1,069

Karissa Y. Talty

Lebanon High School, MO

1,324

Diane Harrison

West Broward High School, FL

1,066

Lisa Stapleton Melanson

Cape Elizabeth High School, ME

1,304

Kristen Drew

Vallivue High School, ID

1,057

Jonathan Horowitz

New Trier Township High School, IL

1,226

Miranda McDonald

Cypress Lakes High School, TX

1,055

Sarah Beauchamp

McArthur High School, FL

1,213

Geoffrey Curran

Citrus Valley High School, CA

1,052

Sam James

Millburn High School, NJ

1,202

Tim Leeds

Havre High School, MT

1,052

Nathan Johnston

Trinity Valley School, TX

1,182

Chris Theis

Apple Valley High School, MN

1,051

Ryan Dunbar

Chaminade High School, NY

1,170

Jill Doise

St. Thomas More High School, LA

1,049

Janine Widman

Davis Senior High School, CA

1,165

Megan Jones

Sturgis Brown High School, SD

1,041

Sergio Martinez

Oakwood School - North Hollywood, CA

1,164

Adam Michael Dodd

West Fargo Sheyenne High School, ND

1,041

Meaghan McDowell

Palisade High School, CO

1,161

Stephen J. Singleton

Wilson Memorial High School, VA

1,039

Erin Edwards

Boone County High School, KY

1,157

Robert S. Walters

Broken Arrow High School, OK

1,039

Gina Lozano

Jack C. Hays High School, TX

1,155

Paul Mitts

North High School - Bakersfield, CA

1,035

Susan Moore

La Canada High School, CA

1,152

Stephen Macartney

Billings West High School, MT

1,034

Ryan Lovell

Tascosa High School, TX

1,144

Ian Rexroad

Beavercreek High School, OH

1,031

Donald L. Steiner

Woodrow Wilson High School, OR

1,142

Kerry Anne Bocko

Sayre Area High School, PA

1,029

Wendy Schauben

Cooper City High School, FL

1,125

Phillip R. Helt

Rockhurst High School, MO

1,025

Robey Holland

Prosper High School, TX

1,125

Zachary Dinges

Hayden High School, KS

1,023

Michael Miller

Montville High School, NJ

1,114

Roy Antley

Flathead High School, MT

1,022

Heidi Trevithick

Smoky Hill High School, CO

1,113

Lorin Harris

Clearfield High School, UT

1,020

Timothy Sullivan

Mira Loma High School, CA

1,112

Chelsea Russell

Willard High School, MO

1,016

Elizabeth Waldrop

Pflugerville High School, TX

1,110

Andrew Golden

Wadsworth City School, OH

1,013

Dave Budt

Bozeman High School, MT

1,106

James Lewis

University School, OH

1,013

Jonathan Kaminsky

Prospect High School, IL

1,106

Paul Wardwell

Bishop Kelly High School, ID

1,010

Rachel Wear

Claremont High School, CA

1,101

Gerard Grigsby

Menlo Atherton High School, CA

1,010

David Watson

Upper St. Clair High School, PA

1,098

Martin Page

Ridge High School, NJ

1,006

Kathy Ruppert

McQuaid Jesuit High School, NY

1,091

David Wilson

Midlothian High School, VA

1,006

Joshua Talamante

East Mountain High School, NM

1,086

Brittany Freibott

Redlands High School, CA

1,004

Jennifer Kirby Hermanson Helena High School, MT

1,084

Jana Everett

Caddo Mills High School, TX

1,002

Todd Michael

Jackson High School, OH

1,081

Janna White

Poly Prep Country Day School, NY

1,001

John Peluso

Valparaiso High School, IN

1,080

Bob Johnson

Fort Scott High School, KS

1,001

Tonya Harper

Chapel Hill High School - Mt. Pleasant, TX 1,078

Jonathan Lee

Gabrielino High School, CA

1,000

Mary McInturff

Desert Oasis High School, NV

1,078

Amber Phung

Gabrielino High School, CA

1,000

Bill Fritz

Adlai Stevenson High School, IL

1,074

Rostrum | WINTER 2016

Triple Ruby Coach Recognition Celebrating speech and debate coaches who have earned their first 750 points.

Samira Husein Shannon Chamberlain Sara Zinck Humzah Quereshy Neal White Alan K. Tannenwald Brett Rydalch Josh Coots Jesse Garrett Teja Vepa Gary D. Peters Lee Lusk RaNae Johnson Kelley Kirkpatrick Nathaniel DuPont Nicole D. Dalton Cody Dorumsgaard Christopher Berdnik Marilyn Myrick John Kerezy Brendan Packert Young Kim Sam Zulia Michelle A. Taylor Victor Trussell Sarah Kieffner Will Malderelli Kathryn Campbell Christopher Harris Brian Kaufman Larissa Carter Scott Pettit Roberta James Jonna Parsons Bonnie K. Cohen Erica Brown Peter Quinn Deserea Niemann Aubrey Smartt Eli Woody Jedidiah Carosaari

Gabrielino High School, CA Northridge High School, UT Plano Sr. High School, TX University School, OH Lake Travis High School, TX Newton South High School, MA Grantsville High School, UT Chesterton High School, IN Summit Prep High School, CA Claremont High School, CA Wirt-Emerson Vis Perf Arts, IN Flagstaff High School, AZ Green River High School, WY Mount Vernon High School, WA L. C. Anderson High School, TX Flintridge Preparatory School, CA Maple Grove Senior High School, MN Bensalem High School, PA Lake Travis High School, TX Revere High School, OH Middletown High School, OH The Bronx High School Of Science, NY Wadsworth City School, OH Silver Lake High School, KS Rufus King High School, WI Father Ryan High School, TN Scarsdale High School, NY Boise High School, ID Saratoga High School, CA Ravenwood High School, TN Buhler High School, KS Summit Academy High School, UT Wheaton Warrenville South High School, IL Scott High School, KY Park Vista Community High School, FL Oakville Sr. High School, MO Randolph High School, NJ Lakeville North High School, MN Great Falls High School, MT Lakewood High School, CO Casablanca American School, Morocco

989 986 980 962 957 944 930 929 923 923 906 903 900 900 892 892 885 871 865 862 860 858 856 856 854 850 843 838 836 836 831 826 820 818 817 816 816 815 814 813 812

Jenifer Scott Brian Alford Michael Shelton Mike Bausch Josh Aguilar Jennifer Laxton Lauren McCool Talana D. Hinson Sara Menssen Melissa Gifford Pamela Childress Angela Verner Larry Wisdom Kristin Andreatos Laura Coker-Dearth Jacob Simon Lyndsey Miller Tania Kelley James Sheldon Annette Mills Jayson Anderson James David Courim Jr. Jimmy Espada April Williams Robin Emery Travis Clement Scotti Thurwatcher Kathleen Kennedy Josh Fromhart Joyce Pasel Melissa Steddom Jamie Wills Jeffrey D. Robbins Kristi Moore Miles Stirewalt Mark Ahlstrom Victor Rivas Umana Richard Michael Burns Susan Foley Rahul Guha Eric Gamble

(October 15, 2015 through January 15, 2016)

Kokomo High School, IN James Bowie High School, TX Lawrence Free State High School, KS Bingham High School, UT San Marcos High School, TX Holy Trinity Catholic High School, TX Des Moines Roosevelt High School, IA Cassville High School, MO Glacier High School, MT Dreyfoos School Of The Arts, FL Valdosta High School, GA Andrews High School, TX Van High School, TX Chaparral High School, AZ Richardson High School, TX Comeaux High School, LA Comanche High School, OK Sandra Day O’Connor High School, TX Champion High School, OH Elko High School, NV Lubbock High School, TX Youngstown Christian, OH Louis D. Brandeis High School, TX Flathead High School, MT Newsome High School, FL Scottsdale Preparatory Academy, AZ Neenah High School, WI Munster High School, IN Wheeling Park High School, WV Logansport High School, IN South East High School, CA Cherokee High School, GA Collierville High School, TN Jefferson City High School, MO Willamette High School, OR Saint Thomas Academy, MN Mission San Jose High School, CA Buchholz High School, FL Campbell Hall High School, CA Beavercreek High School, OH Dardanelle High School, AR

812 808 808 807 807 805 804 802 802 801 801 794 793 792 788 787 786 785 783 783 782 779 775 775 774 774 771 770 770 770 765 765 764 762 762 762 761 761 754 751 751

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Photo: The Harker School

COACH PROFILE Karina Momary

Team is Family.

T

hat’s the slogan of The Harker Middle School speech and debate team. “Everyone’s win is a win for the team; everyone’s loss is a loss for the team,” said Karina Momary, Director of Middle School Speech & Debate at The Harker School in San Jose, California.

Instilling a family atmosphere is something Karina saw as the highest priority when taking on the coaching position back in 2010. “While there was already a team in place when I got here, I saw an opportunity for growth,” she said. “Growth in size, in participation, and most of all, growth in connectedness.”

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Karina Momary is the Director of Middle School Speech & Debate at The Harker School in San Jose, California.

Having nurtured this family environment for years, her “Teamsgiving” event is a perfect example of the team’s bond.

Teamsgiving occurs every year on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, and includes games, photo booths, exchanging of thank-you letters, and of course, a delicious meal.

“We have more than 100 students involved in speech and debate,” Karina said. “With that many people, it’s easy to lose the feeling of being part of one unit—it’s easy to lose connection.”

The event is not just for the students to bond better, either, as parents are invited to join their kids. Karina feels strongly that having parents speak to one another about their experiences can sell the event better than anyone else could.

“There is no better advertising for the team than having an experienced 8th grader’s parents share with a new 6th grader’s parents what speech and debate has done for their child.”

Speech and debate has given Karina a lot to be thankful for. She went to college on a debate scholarship, and it encouraged her to pursue her communication goals. The confidence that the activity helped her build cannot be overstated, as she now has the resilience to defend her ideas when they are opposed by others.

Since Karina has reaped so much from her time in the activity, she felt it only proper she return the favor. “I wanted to give back to the activity in any way I could. I chose coaching,” she said. “I wanted to expose students to the activity, to a world larger than themselves.”

While Karina’s focus is on middle school students, she has coached

high school students in the past. The difference between the two age groups fascinates her, making her appreciate the middle school level even more. “I get to expose these younger students to all sorts of world events, countries, leaders, politics, and more that they normally wouldn’t see in their curriculum,” Karina said. “High school students generally have more history classes under their belt, so I have to start at a different place in the discussion for middle school students, but their desire to learn is incredible.”

That desire to learn is aided by the resources available through the National Speech & Debate Association. One of Karina’s goals was to expose her middle school students to as high a level of competition as possible to maximize their learning potential. She has achieved this goal in two ways.

First, her team utilizes the National Tournament performance videos online.

“The middle school videos in particular are extremely valuable for me,” Karina said. “With younger students, they can be intimidated seeing a student five years older performing. Now they can watch students their age delivering these amazing performances, and it gives them a great deal of confidence and belief in themselves.”

Second, she sends her students to high school tournaments. A process that first developed out of necessity, as there were no middle school tournaments when she started coaching, has now become a mainstay for her program.

“They compete at a much higher level, learn the process, and see students they can relate to,” Karina said.

As we know, middle school speech and debate has grown considerably since

2010. This early exposure to the activity has created a highly competitive cohort of underclassmen across the country.

“I had a prior middle school national champion in LD who was competing in varsity level during his freshman year of high school,” Karina said. “I’m now even seeing 8th graders compete at the high school varsity level—it’s remarkable.”

By the time these students reach their senior year in high school, they will have already been competing at that level for four or five years.

The Harker School in particular has seen their middle school program grow considerably. “I started with 20 students in the program,” Karina said. “I now have about 150 students—whether they’re in class, the club, or on the competitive team.” The school dedicates many resources to support this growth, with four full-time faculty members (three high school, one middle school) who are dedicated to speech and debate.

They are also able to give students the opportunity to join any NSDA event they wish, something Karina feels makes students more passionate about the activity. “Some students love discussing morals and values, others current events,” she said. “If students’ choices are limited, I feel that limits their passion, as they may be forced to compete in an event they may not be fully interested in.”

The investment the administration has made in the program has paid off. The Harker Middle School has won the NSDA Overall School of Excellence award the past four years, even receiving a letter of acknowledgement from President Barack Obama. The school has also produced middle school national champions in multiple events from 2011 to 2014. When individual members of the team win these awards, the whole team celebrates.

“The culture of our team is a highlight for me,” Karina said. “Even though it’s an individual award, the victory is shared with the entire team.”

Last year was the first time in five years that The Harker Middle School had not produced a national champion.

Despite their streak ending, Karina remained extremely proud of her team

and is even more confident in them this year. “Last year, our team was mostly 7th graders and they all performed excellently,” she said. “Returning for their final year of middle school, I can see the drive in them to win a national championship.”

Despite wanting to ignite that drive, developing national champions is not Karina’s top goal. With 150 students, there are many different priorities and goals. Some students just want to improve their public speaking skills; others are very invested in hopes of a national championship. Karina arranges 15-minute one-on-one meetings with all of her students, where she allows the student to pick the topic points of discussion. “They can ask the questions they want,” she said. “It allows me to personalize my teaching and coaching to a large, diverse group of students.”

You can talk to a hundred different coaches, and you will find a hundred different approaches to coaching.

The beauty of it all is that there is no one right way—the choice is up to the individual. Take one of the most common issues coaches encounter: shy students. Karina’s strategy is to fight communication apprehension head on. “We start talking from day one,” she said. “I want to get them talking in front of their peers as much as possible.

Even if they never compete again, I feel everyone should be able to stand up in front of others, present an idea, and confidently defend it.”

Karina’s journey in speech and debate almost didn’t start. During her freshman year of high school, she was eager to take Journalism as an elective.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, for her current students) the class was already filled and she had to settle for her second choice: speech and debate.

Not a bad career for a second choice, huh? It’s funny how life works sometimes.

Students and parents took fun photo booth pics during The Harker Middle School “Teamsgiving” on November 19, 2015.

Compiled by Russ Godek, Communications Associate for the National Speech & Debate Association

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 77

District in Detail Sagebrush (NV)

A Strong Community Across a Vast Desert

T

he beautiful landscape of Nevada holds many secrets and fun facts. For example, did you know Nevada is home to more wild horses than every other state combined? Nevada is also known for many other things: Las Vegas and its casinos, Area 51, the Hoover Dam. Well, you can add the Sagebrush District of the National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA) in northern Nevada to that list.

Though Sagebrush is on the smaller side for an NSDA district, comprised of about 20 schools spread throughout northern Nevada, it has quite a lot going for it. “A few years ago we had a student from our smallest and newest school qualify for the National Tournament,” said Christy Briggs, Sagebrush district chair and head coach of the Reno High School speech and debate team. “To have a team with three to five students competing was a big deal. To see a school that small compete, win, and qualify on the national level was very exciting.”

That achievement reverberated throughout the district, especially among the smaller schools, who saw national success is possible, no matter the size of your district, school, or team.

There was a time when Nevada was just one district. It has since split into two—Sagebrush to the north, and Golden Desert, which encompasses the southern half of the state. “In the last couple of years, the coaching and district relationships have become a

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lot stronger between districts,” Christy said. “It’s been very helpful to discuss challenges, successes, and strategies with each other.” The Golden Desert District is about double the size of its northern counterpart in terms of number of schools, with almost three times as many students.

The two districts will get another chance to come together later this year in August, along with districts from across the country, at the 2016 Summer Leadership Conference held in Las Vegas.

“The opportunity to be immersed with other coaches is immense,” Christy said. “Even if they’re coaches from different areas or demographics, it’s rare to get a chance to talk with those coaches. It gives you a valuable, different perspective.”

This will be the third consecutive time that Las Vegas has hosted the conference, which has given Christy the opportunity to attend each one. “It has given us the opportunity as a small district to advocate on behalf of other smaller districts around the country,” she said. “Bigger districts don’t always have the same challenges as their smaller brethren, such as how to engage

more people to maintain district viability, so it’s nice to make sure the voice of the smaller districts is being heard and their needs are being addressed.”

As a district chair, Christy, along with the rest of her committee, is always worried about advocating for others. “All for Our Country” is the state motto of Nevada, but “All for Our District” may as well be the motto of the Sagebrush District Committee. “We are a very transparent committee,” Christy said.

“Members appreciate that they know our process, they know we go to the NSDA for instruction, and we are in constant communication with them.”

The committee has seen a lot of stability over the years, with only a few members needing to be replaced due to time commitments. “I owe that to the way the district tournament is run and the confidence that our members have in us.”

The stability and transparency of the Sagebrush District Committee is one part of what Christy believes provides the true value to their members. The other part? Coach recognition and inclusion.

“We try to let our coaches know how valued they are,” she said.

Christy ensures that all students are aware of every coach in the district and she does this through the district

Meet the District Committee

Christy Briggs, Chair Reno High School • Reno, NV

Kelli Brill Sage Ridge School • Reno, NV

S. Joy Carlson

Christy Briggs, M.A.Ed., is an English teacher, master journalism educator, and head coach of speech and debate at Reno High School. In addition to being the Sagebrush district chair, she also serves as president of the Northern Nevada Forensic League. When not busy teaching or coaching speech and debate, Christy enjoys hosting Murder Mystery parties for her friends.

tournament. “We try to include as many coaches as possible in the presentation of awards at the tournament,” she said.

“We want to make sure all coaches get recognized in front of our students.”

The Sagebrush District Tournament is a highlight for the northern Nevada district, with the committee selecting a unique theme each year.

The themes are intended to draw more interest for the students and are part of the committee’s overall inviting culture. They welcome a fun, relaxed environment. A few years ago, the Academy Awards was the theme of the Sagebrush District Tournament and to play into that, every coach wore tuxedo t-shirts. “The students got a big kick out of it,” Christy said. “We are a little silly, but we always try to keep it fun for the students.”

While they make time for fun, Sagebrush always puts student learning at the forefront of all that they do.

“The NSDA provides many resources

Spring Creek High School • Spring Creek, NV

Stacie Gardner Elko High School • Elko, NV

AnnElise Hatjakes The Davidson Academy Of Nevada • Reno, NV

to help our students, especially in the last several years,” Christy said.

“The Resource Package in particular is extremely useful.” She likens the Resource Package to a great sales tool for coaches to add a program to their school, or even install the activity as an elective. Christy also believes that at times, the activity and resources available to students in the activity can be taken for granted. “When my students see just how much has been provided for them and the activity, it is truly eye-opening,” she said. “There are many research and evidence sites available, but they don’t provide many of the benefits found on the NSDA site, such as topic analyses.”

Of course, all the resources in the world can be wasted if they are not utilized properly. Luckily, Christy has never had to worry about that. “Our students across the district are very thankful for the opportunities they receive through this activity,” she said.

“Their desire to learn is incredible.”

Despite some schools being as far as 300 miles apart, at the end of the day, Sagebrush remains a very close-knit group. “Despite how spread

out our schools are, all the students are unified,” said Christy. “Even if students don’t travel together to tournaments, they always bond when they arrive.”

It’s not just the students, either, as coaches across the district remain close and supportive of each other. “A few years ago, one of our coaches of 15+ years received her first Diamond award,” Christy said. “The majority of our coaches attended the ceremony and supported her.”

This is where Christy’s biggest point of pride comes into play. She considers the Sagebrush District one big team. “Even though all the students and coaches are on their own teams, when we all come together—and we always do—it becomes like one big team, one big family. It’s very special to me.”

So while the state of Nevada holds many secrets, the Sagebrush District is not one. The secret is out and Sagebrush stands together, as one, for their community.

Compiled by Russ Godek, Communications Associate for the National Speech & Debate Association

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‘‘

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

|

Robert Ickes

With speech and debate, you have the chance to change how someone thinks or acts—focus on that, and above all, enjoy it.”

Nerves? What nerves?

M

ay 22, 1992. It’s 5:29 p.m. in Burbank, California.

Backstage at Studio One, a nervous Johnny Carson paces behind the curtain. The clock strikes 5:30 p.m. as Ed McMahon, Carson’s trusted sidekick and announcer, launches into his opening routine, concluding with the famous line: “Here’s Johnny!” Carson steps out into the spotlight to host his final show.

Though he never showed it, Johnny Carson, a man who entertained and mesmerized millions of people across the country for 30 years as host of The Tonight Show, was nervous every show.

Carson confessed to McMahon once: “People think I’m always so relaxed but the truth is I’m always nervous. Making it look easy is a hell of a strain.” The man who hosted 4,351 episodes in front of millions of viewers each night was nervous every time, right down to the final show.

Robert (Bob) Ickes, Director of Original Oratory at InterProd Speech and Debate, recounts this story to make a point. “This man whom I worshipped, and who had done speech and debate, was always nervous,” he said. “If he’s nervous and can do that, surely it’s okay.”

Bob learned to channel his nerves into positive energy to enhance his performance. “I made a pact with myself the night before every tournament I competed in. I knew I was going to be

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nervous the next morning. There’s no avoiding it. But I knew to expect it, to be ready for it, and know that it’s okay.

I was able to make it a natural process, compartmentalize it, and use it as positive energy.”

It’s something Bob, now a coach, tries to instill in his students. “If they tell themselves that they’re going to go on in spite of those nerves, that’ll motivate them and make them proud to overcome it.”

Bob cut his teeth in speech and debate at Bishop McDevitt High School in Philadelphia, PA beginning in 1977, excelling in Extemporaneous Speaking and Original Oratory. At the behest of his mother, he joined the speech and debate team and never looked back.

“I was lucky enough to be taught by a legendary, larger-than-life coach, the lategreat Mr. David T. Horn,” he remembers.

“He taught us everything to know about speech—not only to speak on our feet, but what it means to experience life.”

Whether it was driving halfway across the country for tournaments, or just down a local street, Mr. Horn made sure his students appreciated the beauty of life. “We made it a point to visit as many historical landmarks as possible. It wasn’t about the tournament; it was about the journey to the tournament.”

The impact of the many coaches from whom Bob has learned can be felt to this day. Throughout high school, he was trained by many notable coaches,

including Hall of Famers James Copeland, Dale McCall, and Ron Krikac. Despite his great trainers, he has seen his fair share of failure—and to him, that’s okay. “My first tournament I did terribly,” he recalls.

“I didn’t even break. I felt like I had let all these great coaches down.”

What his coach did for him next saved his career in speech and debate. Taking him aside after the tournament, his coach told him that it’s what happens in the round, not what’s happening in your mind, that counts. “Those words helped me a lot,” Bob insists. “You can have the greatest training, be around the greatest educators, as I was, but if you don’t put in the time and hard work, it’s not going to magically happen.”

As a coach, Bob works hard to emulate those who taught him. Mr. Horn’s philosophy of Singular Excellence sticks with him to this day. “He believed that true education comes from being in the presence of other exceptional people and places.” Bob insists that everything his coach did worked toward that. Mr. Horn’s students were constantly connected with other exceptional coaches, leaders, and students. “He wanted to expose us to things that were much larger than ourselves,” he said.

“We were to be aware of every place we were.”

Taking a page from Mr. Horn’s handbook, Bob believes that each student has a unique voice, and his mission is to help them find it. He carries out this mission through an interview—not surprising, given Bob’s professional background of interviewing and profiling. “When constructing an original oration, my favorite part is interviewing the student,” he said. “The student will usually have a long list of topics they want to talk about, but the lists are usually inorganic and not a true representation of their voice.

Interviewing them helps find that organic voice.”

He shared the story of a student who, like so many others, felt there was nothing interesting or exceptional about their own life and experiences. The student, a young woman, recounted her weekend to Bob, sharing a story about a marshmallow eating contest in which she took part. “I immediately burst out laughing,” he recalls. “I couldn’t believe she didn’t find that interesting—but that’s why we as coaches are there, to draw these stories out.” The student went on to explain that she choked (not physically) on the eighth marshmallow.

She cracked under the pressure. And just like that, Bob had helped her find the topic of her oration: how people crack under the pressure of big moments.

In addition to interviewing students as a coach, Bob has interviewed many celebrities throughout the years having edited and/or written for many publications, including Newsweek, New York Magazine, The New York Times, Vogue, Details, The Hollywood Reporter, POZ, and more. Among his favorites to interview were Tom Stoppard, Tony Kushner, and Samuel L. Jackson. Speech and debate helped extensively in preparing him for his career in writing and editing. “I learned how to write, on deadline, for the audience.”

For the audience. Bob can’t stress that enough. “When writing or performing, the goal is to bring pleasure, realization, and change to an audience.” Often in writing, you will see the personality of the writer be given more of a showcase than what they’re writing about. This is something that Bob trains his students to avoid. From day one of Bob’s oration camp, he makes students repeatedly chant the phrase, “Everything we do in original oration is for the audience.”

What does that phrase mean? It means find the connection, he said.

A famous comedian once said that a perfect joke will make all 1,000 people in the audience laugh for 1,000 different reasons. Why? Because at its root, the joke should be relatable to people. Each person in the audience will relate to it in a different way, based upon their life experiences.

“One of my favorite orations was given in Grapevine, Texas, in 2006,” Bob recalled. “Titled, ‘Watch Your Slanguage,’

it discussed how we use words with incredibly toxin origins—nazi, pimp, ghetto, retarded—casually, forgetting their connotations.” In the oration, the student discussed how NBA player Tim Duncan had called the league dress code “retarded.” As a result, students from a mentally disadvantaged school, who had looked to Tim as a hero, wrote him a letter expressing their hurt from his words. “It was a powerful story,” Bob said. “It made me think about all the unfortunate words I’ve used throughout life and made me more aware of my choice in language moving forward.”

That’s what a good performance does, he said. It relates to the audience and makes them think—whether it’s about themselves or an idea. “With speech and debate, students have a platform from which they have the power to influence,” Bob says. “I urge all students to take advantage of that. You have the chance to change how someone thinks or acts— focus on that and above all, enjoy it.” You shouldn’t go into a tournament looking to win the competition. Look to win the connection with your audience, and often winning the competition follows.

“If you win the connection, chances are you’ll win the competition.”

Bob’s hope is that these lessons serve as inspiration for students to approach performances in a unique manner.

He also encourages students to find inspiration from anything and anyone they can, not just himself. “In looking at my writing, while I learned a great deal from my coaches, there were just as many famous inspirations,” he said.

Whether it was famed author Truman Capote and his gorgeously constructed sentences or film critic Pauline Kael and her revolutionary writing style and vernacular, Bob learned from many.

Tom Stoppard, in particular, was one of Bob’s favorites. “The guy is so brilliant,” he exclaimed. “I got the chance to interview him once when one of his plays, Hapgood, was running at Lincoln Center—the plot involved identical twins.” Bob proceeded to share how nervous he was to interview one of his idols. “I knew if we were in a distracting setting, something that would amaze him, I could relax and be more comfortable.” To accomplish this, Bob found a restaurant in Manhattan

called Twins, in which all the servers were identical twins. It was there Bob conducted his interview, and to his delight, proved to be a worthy and pleasant distraction for Mr. Stoppard.

“I found a way to combat my nerves and made the situation work to my advantage.”

Bob leaves with a story of how nervous he was, even on his final day of competition. “Like Johnny, I was never less nervous on my final day than I was on my first,” he said. “But what I did learn throughout my years of speech and debate was how to channel that into positive energy.”

Before performing, whether it’s on stage, in a classroom, at work, or in front of your mirror, always remember that if Johnny Carson, The King of Late Night, was nervous, it’s okay for you to be, too.

When your name is called, stop, compose yourself, and repeat these words in your head: Heeeere’s Johnny!

CrossFire Favorite word – Grace Least favorite word – Kudos Worst fear – Imprecision Favorite movie – Midnight Cowboy Favorite author – Truman Capote Pet peeve – Unaccountability Favorite fortune cookie quotation – “If you want to be a star at 6 a.m., you have to be a star at 6 p.m.”

Robert Ickes earned his B.A. in Journalism and English from the University of Southern California. He is the Director of Original Oratory at InterProd Speech and Debate. He also coaches for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida and Leland High School in California.

Compiled by Russ Godek, Communications Associate for the National Speech & Debate Association

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 81

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Opinion

The Unanticipated Consequences of Paperless Debate

by Michael Greenstein, Ed.D.

W

ithin the last five years, paperless debate has swept through the high school Policy community like an F5 tornado. Irrespective of the location of varsity tournaments and regardless if they are local, regional, or national in scope, it is extremely rare to find anyone still debating on paper; instead, debaters all read evidence and blocks from their computer.

The advantages of paperless debate are numerous. 1 In fact, it would be very difficult to find high school debaters or coaches who think paperless debate is worse than debating on paper. However, despite the popularity and value of paperless debate, it is important for coaches and students to recognize that paperless debate has given rise to a few unintended consequences that could be detrimental to the development of essential skills debate has the potential to afford students.

First and foremost, debate has made the ability of debaters to flow 2 substantially worse. When debate used to occur on paper, students would flow their opponent’s speeches and if they missed an argument would walk up to their opponent and take the evidence after it was read to see what they

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missed. Moreover, since opponents had the right to take evidence in paper debate, the only way for a student to know the arguments their partner made was to flow them. In the era of paperless debate, competitors give each other their speeches before they orally deliver them. This gives students a false sense of security where they believe they have all the arguments their opponent will make and therefore gives them confidence they do not have to flow or pay intense attention to their opponent’s speech. Likewise, instead of needing to flow their partner’s speech to know what arguments it contains, students now have a copy of it as well before their partner delivers it. Furthermore, although the community considers it cheating, some students will even comb through the document of their opponent’s speech before their opponent has read a piece of evidence, giving students even more faith that they can know the arguments in a speech without actually listening to it.

The evidence that students do not flow is apparent in an overwhelming majority of high school debates. The two most common indictors students are not flowing are a result of two factors that occur when students

orally deliver speeches. First, many students do not read all the evidence they place into a speech document because they run out of time or decide to skip certain evidence on the spot (for a variety of reasons). When this occurs, judges and observers can tell that a particular student did not flow because in the following speech the student who did not flow will answer evidence that their opponent never read in the previous speech.

Second, many students do not put analytical 3 arguments into their speech documents.4 When this occurs, judges and observers can tell that a particular student did not flow because in the following speech the student who did not flow will only answer arguments that had evidence to support them and not answer analytical arguments their opponent made in their previous speech.

The lack of student flowing has made high school debates significantly worse. At its core, debate is about direct clash and specific refutation; that is what distinguishes debate from oratory. When students do not flow, or flow poorly, their ability to directly clash with an opponent’s argument and refute it decreases dramatically—and with it, the quality of debate. In many

debates today, debaters speak about whatever they want, whenever they want, without any organization and structure. Therefore, debaters mostly talk about their claims and concede the claims of their opponent. At the end of the debate, judges already have the difficult duty of determining who won the debate. As a result of the lack of clash, modern debate also requires judges to piece debates together by attempting to determine which arguments each side made apply to one another.

Aside from flowing, there are numerous other important skills that students are not developing as well, or at all, as a result of paperless debate. One such skill is the quality of students’ speaking ability. When students read evidence and other parts of their speeches from a computer, they are typically less clear or understandable for two main reasons.

First, since students read from the computer screen, they have a habit of speaking into their computer instead of projecting their voice over it. This decreases the volume of student speeches and also makes it difficult to discern words because the computer muddles them. Second, students are less concerned about their clarity in general because everyone in the room (including the judge) who wants a copy of the speech will get it before the speech starts. Students are convinced that judges are following along their speech document and therefore believe their clarity is not a concern, because if the judge cannot understand

the speech, they can and will refer to the speech document.

Paperless debate has also made it more difficult for students to learn and understand arguments well. When squads debated off of paper, in order to give files to every two-person team, the coach or students had to make photocopies of the evidence. Since highlighting did not copy well, each two-person team had to highlight their own evidence (which every student wants because then they are only reading the minimum words needed to make an argument). Since every individual two-person team had to highlight each piece of evidence, it forced many more students to read through every card in their files, and as a result, better process the argument as a whole. With paperless debate, it’s seamless to email a file that a student has already highlighted to the entire team.

This may save many students a lot of time, but at a cost that does not require them to take the time to read, understand, and process the arguments.

Highlighting files is not the only pre-paperless process students used to engage in that contributed to learning and understanding arguments.

Students also used to organize their files into accordion filing systems5 to make files easier to use in debates, compared to only organizing using file folders. Just like with highlighting, it was impossible to distribute files already filed into accordions; instead, students had to read the files to decide how they wanted to organize them

in a way that made sense, and then transfer the papers into the accordion filing system. The forced organizational process students needed to engage in dramatically increased student knowledge of arguments because the only way a student could develop a good and useful system of organization was to understand the argument. In the world of paperless debate, the student who creates the file can organize it and email it to his or her entire team with the same organizational

structure.

Again, the bulk of students save time because they do not need to organize files, but they are not required to read through and understand the arguments before they deploy them in debates.

Sadly, paperless debate has not only affected students, but judges as well. Paperless debate has made judging significantly worse for a variety of reasons. As mentioned before, many judges have started to follow along with the speech document, and as a result, do not flow or flow much less than they used to. This means they, too, are sometimes not aware of all the arguments students make in a speech, which can radically

One of the easiest solutions coaches can engage in is to distribute files to their students that are not highlighted and not fully organized.�

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 85

alter the way they decide who wins a debate. Further, many judges now have a false sense of the quality of student communication in debates.

Since judges are reading every card as students orally deliver them, they often have a greater understanding of the arguments after the debate, even if the student presents them with a lack of clarity or fails to explain the arguments well in rebuttals. Prior to judges following speech documents, the only way they could understand arguments before the debate was over was based on how students presented and explained arguments in the debate. As a result, debates have now become more about evidence and judge interpretation of evidence, and less about student communication skills and how they have debated, explained, and compared evidence.

This phenomenon has inadvertently increased the risk of judge intervention (even if not intended by the judge), and has therefore led to more subjective decisions by judges.

Perhaps even more startling, every aforementioned paperless consequence discussed in this paper has the propensity to make future judging exponentially worse. Not only do former high school debaters judge many high school debates, but they make up the largest percentage of most high school judge pools.

Therefore, every generation (or fouryear high school cycle) where students fail to learn or maximize learning of valuable debate skills like flowing, communication, and knowledge of various arguments will compound the already existing judge problem because it will increase the number of judges who cannot flow, do not value student communication and explanation, and do not understand arguments.

Given some of the ways the transition to paperless debate has seemingly affected the activity, it is

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important to discuss what coaches can do to ensure their debaters are continuing to develop all the skills debate can afford to students. One of the easiest solutions coaches can engage in is to distribute files to their students that are not highlighted and not fully organized. If each student receives nearly completed files and needs to put the finishing organizational touches on them, and each student is forced to highlight the files for them to be usable in a debate, it would force all students to engage in activities that require them to have a deeper understanding of the files.

While it is true that this tactic will demand more time and effort on the part of students, it is time and effort well spent in that it will increase their general understanding of arguments, and as a result, produce more success in debates.

Another solution that would help resolve some of the aforementioned paperless judging issues (and make judging better in general) is to have coaches and debate organizations create judge training programs. Unlike sporting events where there are leagues, and each league has training and quality requirements for officials, this type of system does not exist in debate. In debate, there are not many leagues (most tournaments across the country are completely independent of one another). Of the leagues that do

exist, almost none provide any judge training or requirements for people to qualify to be a debate judge. This solution is not something that would be easy to implement overnight, but with the collective minds of debate coaches and debate institutions across America, it is a solution that would eventually be achievable and radically improve the quality of judging across the board.

The transition to paperless has been fascinating. At first people feared it, and only a few teams switched from debating with paper to being paperless. However, after a very tiny road bump, paperless debate caught on like wildfire and now is a strong community norm. What is interesting is that despite its prevalence, people have conducted almost no research on the effectiveness of paperless as it relates to various skills students have the potential to develop from engaging in high school debate. At the very least, it is my hope that this paper sparks a discussion on paperless debate, but more importantly, encourages people to engage in concrete research to analyze a widespread practice most assume to be valuable.

Dr. Michael Greenstein is the Director of Debate at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, IL where novices debate using paper and the rest of the team is paperless.

End Notes 1

Greenstein, M. B. (2014). “Paperless debate: The wave of the future.” Program Evaluation.

Paper 1. http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/pe/1/

2

Style of taking notes via a particular organized method.

3

Arguments made without the use of evidence.

4

It is an acceptable community practice to only share evidence with your opponent and not analytical arguments.

5

Some people referred to these accordion files as “expando files.” In fact, there used to be heated debate about what to call these filing systems, and for the record, “accordion” is correct.

Student Service Citations The following students have received Student Service Citations from the National Speech & Debate Association in recognition of outstanding service to speech and debate education. Students receive a citation for every 100 service points earned through activities such as community speaking or outreach. A single act of service usually garners between two and five service points. These citations were earned between October 15, 2015 and January 15, 2016.

88

Student Service Citation, 8th Degree (800+ points) Chaminade High School William DeVito

NY

800

Student Service Citation, 7th Degree (700+ points) Marshall High School Hallie C. Harper

MO

720

Student Service Citation, 6th Degree (600+ points) Bangor High School Nick J. Danby

ME

620

Student Service Citation, 5th Degree (500+ points) Chaminade College Prep Jeremy Marsh Cecelia Porter Christian Brothers Academy Jemez Mountain Home School Robert E. Naffziger

CA NY NM

585 565 510

Student Service Citation, 4th Degree (400+ points) Rio Grande High School Morgan Leanor Tracy Mars Hill Bible School Gil Carter Davis Simpson Bixby High School

NM AL OK

469 418 401

Student Service Citation, 3rd Degree (300+ points) Truman High School Elizabeth McGoldrick Bradi Allen Mulvane High School Sydney V. McDonald Bangor High School Alexis Quintana Yucaipa High School Stephen Durosaiye Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Collin Quigley Holy Ghost Prep Sahana Bhargava University Preparatory Academy Kalyn Nichole Reading Marshall High School Jimmy McDermott Prospect High School Carolina Garcia Yucaipa High School Tavan Thomas Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Karen Ruiz Yucaipa High School Kelvin Amarty Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Ranna Harley Bob Jones Academy Karsan Turner Mulvane High School Tyler Sheets Towanda Jr.-Sr. High School Katie Buhler Pratt High School Bixby High School Kennedy Blankenship

PA KS ME CA NY PA CA MO IL CA NY CA NY SC KS PA KS OK

376 375 365 356 345 343 338 330 327 325 325 321 320 320 320 318 316 315

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Student Service Citation, 3rd Degree (300+ points) Nicole Floistad Bixby High School Jessica Kane Olympic Heights Community High School Bhaskar Suri Chaminade College Prep Louisiana School For Math Science & The Arts Timothy Shertzer Amanda B. Morrison Central High School - Springfield Hinsdale Central High School Presleigh Renner Meg Hancock Paducah Tilghman High School Bishop McGuinness High School Christopher G. Allen Claire LeMonnier Munster High School Mulvane High School Troy Carlson Hayley Fatzinger Hoover High School

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315 314 314 313 312 312 311 303 303 301 301

Student Service Citation, 2nd Degree (200+ points) Mountain Home High School Jenna Nicole Crowe Elijah D. Finley Centennial High School Chaminade College Prep Noelle Johnson Connor Innes Mulvane High School Monticello Central High School Shawn P. Bonner-Burke Cavan Hagerty Bangor High School Assumption High School Kait Patrice-Marie Petter Anthony Massa Hoover High School Noblesville High School Zachary Baker Kelvin Uraga Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Odessa High School Kennedi Cox Peyton Tinder Munster High School Sunil Alexander Yucaipa High School Madeline Boyd Yucaipa High School Middletown High School Kiana Hughley Victoria Jansen Mulvane High School Truman High School Lauren Savoy Carson Kroenke Willard High School Kayla Ybarra ILEAD North Hollywood El Camino Real Charter High School Cassidy Block Seth Mavigliano North Platte High School Mulvane High School Chase Penka Desmond Williamson Mulvane High School Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Emmanuel De La Rosa Emilio Rivera Chaminade College Prep Sam Jones Servite High School Samuel P. Beck Salina High Central Billie Bennett Penn High School Madison Fagan Downers Grove North High School Noah Hurtado Yucaipa High School Mavelyn Cruz Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Cheyenne Rose Martin Bishop McGuinness High School Alissa Kennedy Whitmer High School Matthew May Palisade High School Amanda Hoffman Sheboygan South High School Rebecca Johnson Wheaton Warrenville South High School Torri Spencer Mulvane High School Jordyn Russell-Mills Towanda Jr.-Sr. High School Jay Shearrow Palisade High School

ID CO CA KS NY ME KY OH IN NY TX IN CA CA OH KS PA MO CA CA NE KS KS NY CA CA KS IN IL CA NY OK OH CO WI IL KS PA CO

283 280 278 269 268 265 265 261 260 260 257 255 250 250 245 245 244 241 238 235 235 235 235 234 234 233 230 230 230 230 229 227 226 226 225 225 225 223 221

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Student Service Citation, 2nd Degree (200+ points) MichaelEllen Walden Paducah Tilghman High School Anna Blackford Palisade High School Hereford High School Levi Henderson Connor McGinley Edison High School Dylan Ames Chaminade College Prep Chris Rubin ILEAD North Hollywood Isabelle Haderlie Palisade High School Carrollton High School Faith Roush Elizabeth Pearl Bowman Rowan County Sr. High School Mulvane High School Holly Carter Jonathan Gibson Collierville High School Marist School Liam Kirchner Kambrie Smith Palisade High School Servite High School Torin Siegel Katheryn Alice Lohmeier Mountain Home High School West Springfield High School Ana Bakke Jonathan Benison Grand Rapids City High School Fairmont Preparatory Academy Nicholas Palmer Alyssa Marshall Willard High School Palisade High School Shaun Arhelger Caitrin Gallagher Wheaton Warrenville South High School Palisade High School Max Kowalezyk Austin Magura Palisade High School Norman High School Cristina Rivas Claire Kelly Paducah Tilghman High School Chaminade College Prep Maya Sobchuk Natasha Dusaj Montville High School Celina C. Largent Princeton High School Wichita Heights High School Anthony Wingfield Allison Dodge Diamond High School Noah Spencer Shikellamy High School Garland High School Dave Baychoo Josh Casillas Bob Jones Academy ILEAD North Hollywood Eric Culhane Corey Hayden Newsome Rowan County Sr. High School Emad Shahnoushi Palisade High School Mulvane High School Nathan Wells Madison Hart Bishop McGuinness High School Chaminade High School Peter Charalambous Cynthia Elin Matson Sunrise Christian Academy David Norman Argeo Bergamasco East Carteret High School Alexis Cairy Apple Valley High School Kelsey Compton Salpointe Catholic High School Brenna Crow Bixby High School Hebron High School Madison Leigh Geer Dade Killien Grady East Carteret High School Rishika Jikaria Stuyvesant High School Spencer Levitt Chaminade College Prep Olivia Prost Luther Preparatory School Jared Serpa Buchanan High School Jack Valentino Chaminade High School Sabrina Yee Yucaipa High School Lindsey Young Mars Hill Bible School

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221 220 220 220 218 218 216 216 215 215 215 215 215 214 213 212 212 212 211 210 210 210 210 210 209 208 207 207 207 206 206 205 205 205 205 205 205 202 201 201 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200 200

Student Service Citation, 1st Degree (100+ points) Marissa Fulbright Mounds High School Evan Lawrence Marshall High School Monticello Central High School Kieran T. Cavanagh Kelby Drogemuller Lakeville South High School Kamryn Owens New Castle High School Brandon Arenson ILEAD North Hollywood Madison Hall The Montgomery Academy Orono High School Jesse Bissen Olivia Dutcher ILEAD North Hollywood Sioux Falls Lincoln High School Carlie Hartle Matthew Manfredo Canon City High School Kickapoo High School Kadie Thomas Brianna Blythe Reeves Torrington High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School Beth Koehler Zadirah Williams Newark Central High School Jefferson High School Crystal Yarberry Jacob Scott Kickapoo High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School Natalie Anderson Noah Fenstermacher Shikellamy High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School Paige Valente Shelby Ford Jefferson High School Yucaipa High School Ashley Pearson Valeria Zerbe Douglas MacArthur High School Whitmer High School Adam Wilson Kaylee Meador Rising Star High School Apple Valley High School Lauren Bernard Ashley Gillespie Bob Jones Academy Tyler Roberts Jefferson High School Caddo Mills High School Shelby Short Sara Telahun Sioux Falls Lincoln High School Erika Rif Nova High School Hendrickson High School Emma Ha Maximiliano Goldstein Nova High School Mulvane High School Joseph Richey David Schmitz Putnam City High School Cheyenne Billy Princeton High School Dardanelle High School Jessica Hernandez Wyatt Lawson Skala South Anchorage High School Grants Pass High School Alex Ray Brown Samantha Haines Truman High School Griffin Valko Princeton High School Benjamin Lawrence Warfield Bentonville High School Samara Fraker Judson High School Mallory Mitchell Scott High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School Nathan Reilly Kaira Bird Alta High School Ethan Bollinger Palisade High School Lauren Florek Munster High School Mandi Hatch North Platte High School Justin Parrish Princeton High School Jennifer Campbell Haskell High School Carter Shanklin Kickapoo High School Garrett Moon Nova High School

OK MO NY MN IN CA AL MN CA SD CO MO WY IL NJ IN MO IL PA IL IN CA TX OH TX MN SC IN TX SD FL TX FL KS OK TX AR AK OR PA TX AR TX KY IL UT CO IN NE TX OK MO FL

194 185 177 170 170 168 166 165 165 165 165 163 162 160 160 160 158 156 156 156 155 155 153 152 151 150 150 150 150 150 149 148 145 145 145 143 143 143 140 140 139 137 136 136 136 135 135 135 135 135 134 134 133

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Student Service Citation, 1st Degree (100+ points) Logan Anne Potter Mountain Home High School Daniel Chiarelli Nova High School Garland High School Emily Crow Marco Antonio Ramirez Bentonville High School Willard High School Joseph Amundson Brian McDonald Wheaton Warrenville South High School Hoover High School Elaine Werren Lillia Day Jefferson High School Mulvane High School E. N. Hackerott Ezoza Ismailova Towanda Jr.-Sr. High School Putnam City High School Nicole Leon Korissa Runyan North Platte High School Jefferson High School Elizabeth Stwalley Summer Austin Princeton High School Andrea Bly Princeton High School Kyra Jensen Kickapoo High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School Cora McVey Savanna Benn Haskell High School Garland High School Galen Bouguyon Aziel Harrison Princeton High School Miller Johnson Trinity Presbyterian School Shikellamy High School Kaila Snyder Jonas Thrasher-Evers Lindale High School Enderlin High School William Lloyd Egan Dallas Finley Kickapoo High School Rebecca Harrison Garland High School North Platte High School Emily Dennary Gina Fuller Yucaipa High School Douglas MacArthur High School Gabriel Giron Taylor Griffith Lincoln Southeast High School Kaleb Hawkins Palisade High School Salina High Central Jamie L. Hawley Dorea Lauer New London High School South Eugene High School Henry Lininger Hallie Malsbury North Platte High School Anastasia Mathews La Junta High School Norton High School Noah Mullenix Aaron Reed Olsen Taylor High School Bailey Reed Haskell High School Hailey Roberts Caddo Mills High School Katara Jeannea Rossman Marshall High School Meghan Settle Garland High School Owen Woodard Wheaton Warrenville South High School James Woodruff Caddo Mills High School Maxwell McGuirt ILEAD North Hollywood Michaela G. Morreale Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School Cole Vaughan Bowling Green High School Valeria Munoz Sumner Academy Silas Nelson Desoto Central High School Caitlin Leiva Oak Grove High School Kayla F. Smith Collierville High School Logan Baker Haskell High School Julianne Bryant Fluvanna County High School Spencer Coben Brophy College Prep Aminata Diallo Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School

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133 132 132 132 131 131 131 130 130 130 130 130 130 129 129 129 129 128 128 128 127 127 127 126 126 126 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 125 123 123 123 122 122 121 121 120 120 120 120

Student Service Citation, 1st Degree (100+ points) Clayton Fountain Democracy Prep Harlem High School Koty Geyer Elkhart Memorial High School Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Genesis Gomez Gage Michael Gramlick Sioux Falls Lincoln High School Eden Prairie High School Emily Grote Gunner Hebrlee Garden City High School Chaney High School La'Rayja Hill Triniti Krauss Palisade High School Eden Prairie High School Annabelle Ludwig Nick Parton Mulvane High School Democracy Prep Harlem High School Marlynn Pollard James Sanger Oakwood School - North Hollywood Rowan County Sr. High School Molly Olivia Simpson Vann Tate Collierville High School Caroline Voegele Hoover High School Blake Wilkerson Jefferson High School Dickinson High School Rachel Andrus Chris Ejianya Van High School Norman North High School Katherine Kemmet Jason Rocha Princeton High School Ally Shinkan Munster High School Harrisonville High School Mathias Carder Megan Gutierrez McAllen High School Mountain Home High School Cassidy A. Rabchenuk Arlette Uribe East High School - Des Moines Kelsey Christianson Willard High School Dardanelle High School Jacqueline Gutierrez Subramanian Iyer James E. Taylor High School Haskell High School Ryan King Amalia Murguia Sumner Academy Elise Williams John F. Kennedy High School Morgan High School Gage Anderson Brady Bell Norman North High School James E. Taylor High School Alan Spencer Brents Sage Brown Woodland Park High School Christian Bump Waupaca High School Yucaipa High School Savannah Butak Richard Caraher Munster High School Michael Curtis North Platte High School Piper Doyle Palisade High School Britonya Fleming Rio Grande High School Ragan Fletcher Bixby High School Kassandra Marie Gonzales Harlingen High School Erin Granillo-Walker McClintock High School Nicholas Adam Johnston Clarke Community High School Caden McDonough ILEAD North Hollywood Allie Mousseau Wheaton Warrenville South High School Olivia Ostendorf Woodland Park High School Neal Patel Hamilton Southeastern High School Haven Perdue Princeton High School Tarek Albaba Concord High School Olivia Byrd Jefferson County High School Jamie Cruse Weatherford Willard High School Dorian Green Llano High School Abigail Hopkins Van High School

NY IN NY SD MN KS OH CO MN KS NY CA KY TN OH IN ND TX OK TX IN MO TX ID IA MO AR TX OK KS IA UT OK TX CO WI CA IN NE CO NM OK TX AZ IA CA IL CO IN TX IN TN MO TX TX

120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 119 119 119 119 119 118 118 118 118 117 117 117 117 116 116 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 115 114 114 114 114 114

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Student Service Citation, 1st Degree (100+ points) Sharon Lu Gabrielino High School Amber Mumm Kickapoo High School Watertown High School Brett Ries Bethany E. Schultz Luther Preparatory School Shelby Cameron Juab High School Zachary Feldman Montville High School Bria Kates ILEAD North Hollywood Hampton High School Luke Lacher Emily Raney Willard High School Haskell High School Chris Rogers Kelaney Stalker North Platte High School Highland High School Matthew Cole Lee Logan Pratt John F. Kennedy High School Needham High School Alexa Tierney Michell Tinoco-Morales Sumner Academy Whitmer High School Daisy Caruso Emma Fowler Pratt High School Mars Hill Bible School Nathan Rikard Kaitlyn Saresky Truman High School El Dorado Springs High School Caleb Alexander Tyrese Avery Democracy Prep Endurance High School Harrisonville High School Sarah Elisabeth Bartlett Bethany Bass Garland High School Shikellamy High School Heather Beveridge Madison Braun Sheboygan South High School Diamond High School Emiliegh Butler Emma Capitanelli Collierville High School Ceri Close Bixby High School New London High School Liam Mitchell Fitzgerald Eleni Hanson Fresta Valley Christian School Christopher Haviland Willard High School Tift County High School Mary Kathryn Howard Hailey Jamann Battle Creek Central High School Battle Creek Central High School Colin Jankowski Duncan Reid Fuller Jones East Carteret High School Jamie Landers Hoover High School Charlotte Latin School Katherine Terese Lim Jamie McDowell Munster High School Pleasant Hill High School Michael Miller Savannah Orton Yucaipa High School Kourtnei Osborn La Junta High School Madison Porter Danville High School Jordan Press Cypress Bay High School Bethany Nicole Reeder Sunrise Christian Academy Charlotte Latin School Eliza Elizabeth Lee Rich Dustin C. Sayler Rowan County Sr. High School Kieran Sheldon Bancroft School Gage Sigl Sioux Falls Lincoln High School Megan Travers Revere High School Page Weaver Hinsdale Central High School Sara Young Sylvania Southview High School Kathleen Arbogast Concordia High School Megan Grantham Vermilion High School Josh Harpell Bentonville High School Alexa Holsten Resurrection Christian School Sara Grace Santillanes Vines High School

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CA MO SD WI UT NJ CA PA MO OK NE ID IA MA KS OH KS AL PA MO NY MO TX PA WI MO TN OK WI VA MO GA MI MI NC OH NC IN MO CA CO KY FL KS NC KY MA SD OH IL OH TX OH AR CO TX

114 114 114 114 113 113 113 113 113 113 113 112 112 112 112 111 111 111 111 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 110 109 109 109 109 109

Student Service Citation, 1st Degree (100+ points) Abigail Goldstein Scarsdale High School Rodger Lee Alhambra High School Rio Grande High School Jose Joey Maruffo Jacob Rumer Harrisburg High School Jessica Walker Orono High School Rebecca Alifimoff Canterbury High School Gabrielle Alexus Dickson Caddo Mills High School Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School Matthew Esser Jack Evans Hampton High School Montville High School Daniel Jin Lee Lauren Singer Scarsdale High School Wheaton Warrenville South High School Justin Baise Isaiah Meek Carrollton High School Cape Elizabeth High School Cole Amorello Thomas John Belsterling Quigley Catholic High School Blanchet Catholic School Sydney Cannady Isabel Cholbi Cajon High School Glenbrook South High School Aidan Demsky Carl Erikstrup East Ridge High School Pratt High School Miranda Flemming Savannah Forren Fluvanna County High School Bangor High School Vanessa Blake Graham Keegan Hollyer Wheaton Warrenville South High School Mullen High School Wesley Juels Curran Taylor LaChappelle Jackson High School Edward Little High School Riley McCurdy Becca Meusch David City High School Danielle Milich Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School El Dorado Springs High School Caleb Miller Laura Miller Hutchinson High School Amal Mulaomerovic Milpitas High School Fishers High School Connor O'Leary Emily Reese Valley Center High School Monterey High School Courtney Romines Jillian Schulz Orono High School Savannah Shelby Banquete High School Palisade High School Victoria Talbott Aimee Wallner La Junta High School Sayre Area High School Brittney Wilkerson Casey Williams Valley Center High School Riley Wilson Hoover High School Makenzie Griess Union Colony Preparatory School Brandon James Fayette County High School Mikaila Livingston Harrisonville High School Marc Michaelson Dickinson High School Emmanuel Nunez Democracy Prep Bronx Preparatory Charter School Brendan Roque Shrewsbury High School David Sebenaler Chanhassen High School Anna Stroud Dardanelle High School Duane S. Backhaus Luther Preparatory School Phillip Bennett Sayre Area High School Kelli Bright Valley Center High School Andy Chan Alhambra High School Jonah Johnson Garland High School Sydney Snowden Trinity Presbyterian School Cole Sutton Round Rock Christian Academy

NY CA NM SD ME IN TX PA PA NJ NY IL OH ME PA OR CA IL MN KS VA ME IL CO GA ME NE PA MO KS CA IN KS TN MN TX CO CO PA KS OH CO GA MO ND NY MA MN AR WI PA KS CA TX AL TX

108 108 108 108 108 107 107 107 107 107 107 106 106 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 105 104 104 104 104 104 104 104 104 103 103 103 103 103 103 103

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Student Service Citation, 1st Degree (100+ points) April Taylor Maize South High School Hunter Andersen Morgan High School Norman High School Catherine Bratton Faith Brown Dardanelle High School Zachary Chilton Currie Bentonville High School Jessica Duque Gabrielino High School Caleb Weaver Van High School Harlingen High School Juan Alvarez Bethany M. Ebanks Dreyfoos School Of The Arts Marshfield High School Emily Matthews Christopher Morgan Westminster School - Augusta Perry High School Noah A. Ott Kirstin Renfrow Bixby High School Wellington High School Connor Yeackley Bethany Antuna Wheaton Warrenville South High School Central High School - Springfield Nikki Anzalone Joshua Bippert Winston Churchill High School Bixby High School Baylee Branham Raena Maria Brendtro Sioux Falls Lincoln High School Bancroft School Monica Canepa Chiray Chew Chaney High School Buchanan High School Abigail Cruce Brennan Curry Middletown High School Sylvania Southview High School Brie Dona Evan Donaldson Hinsdale Central High School Chaminade High School Aidan Fitzgerald Josline Garcia North Platte High School Harrison Giovannelli The Bronx High School Of Science Trinity Valley School Samantha Jancosek Emma Johnsen Lindale High School Jada Keyser McClintock High School Cape Elizabeth High School Anya Kohan Beth Kuenzel Battle Creek Central High School William Tennent High School Victoria Leese Michaela Lemons Appleton East High School Matthew Lunde David City High School Trinity Valley School Kerry MacKenzie Jenna Madden Buchanan High School Yucaipa High School Abigail Madrid Mathew Magaldi Penn High School Maddie McIntire Kickapoo High School Tanner Meyer Conway High School Sabra Moore David City High School Dylan Murray Bishop Miege High School Bixby High School Heather O'Neal Zachary Ochsner North Platte High School JJ Peil Middletown High School Marilyn Pena Jefferson High School Easton Powell Corvallis High School Victoria Ramsey Palisade High School Rylee Robertson Bixby High School Jose Salazar Morristown West High School Kimberly Taylor American Falls High School Ryan Wallace Cape Elizabeth High School Connie Zhou Skyline High School

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2016 (SSI) Summer Speech Intensives will be held at r the University of St. Thomas in Ente ode on c coup A20 St. Paul, Minnesota: om NSD ete.c p omp c m 2 a k ea ur c at sp off of yo 6th­9th grade, July 9­14 20 n! for $ tuitio ease r n 10th­12th grade, July 16­23 S i c RICE t!

P

IL 1s

APR

Camps Coaching Advocacy Workshops College Resources thePROCESSstarts@speak2compete.com SPEAK2compete.com

Cadi Kadlecek

Kristofer Kracht

Academic All Americans The Academic All American award recognizes students who have earned the degree of Superior Distinction (750 points); earned a GPA of 3.7 on a 4.0 scale (or its equivalent); received an ACT score of 27 or higher, or SAT score of 2000 or higher; completed at least 5 semesters of high school; and demonstrated outstanding character and leadership.

ARIZONA

(October 15, 2015 through January 15, 2016)

FLORIDA (continued) Nicole Sarah Lucas

Boca Raton Community High School

Matthew Mellies

Western High School

Victor J. Sanchez

Wellington High School

Charles Schmidt

Boca Raton Community High School

Joshua Schulster

Boca Raton Community High School

GEORGIA

Ryan Ferdowsian

Chandler Preparatory Academy

Liam Kirchner

Marist School

David Garcia

Chandler Preparatory Academy

Ananya Malhorta

Marist School

Audrey Laughrey

Chandler Preparatory Academy

Noh Mengisteab

Marist School

Jake Pigott

Marist School

ARKANSAS Rachel Sara Mauchline

Bentonville High School

ILLINOIS Priya Kattappurath

Buffalo Grove High School

CALIFORNIA Aaron Lundin Baum

Miramonte High School

INDIANA

Andy Chan

Alhambra High School

Nathan Gray

Cathedral High School

Shrey Desai

Saratoga High School

Teresa Heckman

Cathedral High School

Daniel Ginsburg

Miramonte High School

Jack Sweeney

Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School

Alek Komatina

Bonita Vista High School

Nathan Lam

San Marino High School

IOWA

Aquila A. Maliyekkal

Stockdale High School

John Bai

Amal Mulaomerovic

Milpitas High School

Anna Nakai

Palo Alto High School

KANSAS

James Naumovski

Los Altos High School

Cynthia Elin Matson

Sunrise Christian Academy

Sabrina Tsai

El Modena High School

Nicholas Murdock

Bishop Miege High School

Alex Vergara

Bonita Vista High School

Sarah Ai Myose

Sunrise Christian Academy

Bryan Yuan Wang

Miramonte High School

Jack Yanos

Antelope High School

KENTUCKY

Jonathan Hongde Zhou

Miramonte High School

MichaelEllen Walden

Sameer Ziaee

Dougherty Valley High School

Bettendorf High School

Paducah Tilghman High School

MAINE COLORADO Sai Kaushik Yeturu

Alexander Fergusson

Orono High School

Peak To Peak Charter School MARYLAND

FLORIDA

98

Aiden Bissell-Siders

Loyola-Blakefield High School

Jack Morton

Loyola-Blakefield High School

Karan Choudhary

NSU University School

Jonathan Goldberg

NSU University School

Samantha Koreman

NSU University School

MASSACHUSETTS

Jacob Alan Kosowsky

Boca Raton Community High School

Jason Yecheng Ma

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Newton South High School

Spark Leaders MINNESOTA Arvind Veluvali

Edina High School

MISSISSIPPI Lauren Gaudet

Sacred Heart Catholic School

MISSOURI Sarah Hill Mensur Koso Jay Patel

Seneca High School Francis Howell North High School Belton High School

NEBRASKA Isabella Spaulding

Lincoln High School

NEVADA Jackson Paris

Elko High School

NEW MEXICO Matt Bedeaux

East Mountain High School

NEW YORK Karina Franke Cecelia Porter

Hackley School Christian Brothers Academy

OHIO Victoria Haber Olivia Hauserman Harper Kerkhoff Owen Kienzle Emily King

Chagrin Falls High School Chagrin Falls High School Mount Vernon High School Carrollton High School Chagrin Falls High School

OREGON Sai Bandi

Westview High School

PENNSYLVANIA David Erzen

Bethel Park High School

TEXAS Spencer Buckner Rachel Forslund Jacey Pridgen Breann Smith Jonas Thrasher-Evers

Lake Travis High School Grapevine High School Mabank High School Liberty Christian School Lindale High School

Help Us Share Your Stories!

T

he National Speech & Debate Association is excited to take part in an effort to establish an online National Forensics Oral History Archive (NFOHA). The goal of the archive is to become a resource and repository for use by anyone—educators, current students, alumni, and parents—interested in and supportive of speech and debate.

This joint venture is proudly co-sponsored by Pi Kappa Delta and administered

by MediaLab at Pacific Lutheran University. The site will contain videos, photographs, and other artifacts that celebrate the rich history of speech and debate in the United States.

We currently are accepting submissions of documents, photos, film, and audio that offer some perspective on the history of speech and debate at your school, in your city, in your state/district, at the National Tournament, and beyond. Your experience need not be specific to membership in our Association. We want to capture the historical highlights of our activity in general!

If you have content you believe is suitable for this site, please contact info@nfoha.org with a brief description of the content you wish to submit. You’ll receive further instructions on delivering the content to us from there!

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Get Ready!

Prep for the speech and debate season with supplies from the NEW Speech & Debate Store!

SHOP NOW: store.speechanddebate.org

Welcome New Schools

(October 15, 2015 through January 15, 2016)

Calera High School

AL

Omaha North Magnet High School

NE

Jacksonville High School

AL

Blair Academy

NJ

Har-Ber High School

AR

Calvary Christian School

NJ

Academy Of The Canyons

CA

Bronx Bridges High School

NY

Alverno High School

CA

Clara Barton High School

NY

Buhach Colony High School

CA

Comprehensive Model School Project

NY

Millennium Charter

CA

Dr. Izquierdo Health & Science Charter School

NY

Natomas Charter School

CA

Fontbonne Hall Academy

NY

The Field School

DC

Gotham Professional Arts High School

NY

Lake Nona High School

FL

Harvest Collegiate High School

NY

New Dimensions High School

FL

Hewitt School

NY

Pace High School

FL

Hillside Arts & Letters Academy

NY

Robinson High School

FL

James Madison High School

NY

Flowery Branch High School

GA

KIPP NYC College Prep High School

NY

Paulding County High School

GA

Millennium High School

NY

Highland High School

IA

Murray Hill Academy

NY

North Fayette Valley High School

IA

North Rockland High School

NY

Horizon Science Academy Mckinley Park

IL

Our Lady Of Mercy

NY

Bowling Green High School

KY

World Academy For Total Community Health

NY

Dr. Henry A. Wise High School

MD

The Academy At Sisters

OR

Gwynn Park High School

MD

Academy At Palumbo

PA

High Point High School

MD

Hardy Williams High Mastery Charter

PA

International High School At Largo

MD

Nativity BVM High School

PA

Largo High School

MD

William Allen High School

PA

Parkdale High School

MD

Dixie High School

SC

REACH Partnership School

MD

South Aiken High School

SC

Saline High School

MI

Barnes Academy

TX

Browerville High School

MN

Dalton Academy

TX

Eagle Ridge Academy

MN

John L. Patton High School

TX

Paladin Career Tech High School

MN

Mount Pleasant High School

TX

Pierz High School

MN

Odessa Career & Technical Early College High School

TX

Pipestone Area High School

MN

Poe Academy

TX

Butler High School

MO

Seamans Academy

TX

Life Church School

MO

Spiegel Academy

TX

Troy Buchanan High School

MO

Vandegrift High School

TX

The Hawbridge School

NC

Veterans Memorial High School

TX

Minto High School

ND

Wheatley Academy

TX

Shiloh Christian School

ND

Culpeper County High School

VA

Trinity High School

ND

Winnebago Lutheran Academy

WI

Bennington Secondary School

NE

Wrightstown High School

WI

Clearwater Orchard High School

NE

Dubois High School

WY

Crofton High School

NE

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IN MEMORIAM

Alfred Charles Snider “Do your best and trust yourself.”

1950 - 2015

W

e are deeply saddened by the loss of Dr. Alfred Charles “Tuna” Snider, one of the world’s best known debate figures, who passed away December 11, 2015.

It is impossible to estimate the number of people who have learned from Dr. Snider as a coach, teacher, or colleague, either in person or from one of his many books, podcasts, television appearances, radio shows, and websites. A lifelong learner and teacher, Dr. Snider was also one of the community’s greatest servants. His 10 years of service to the operations of the National Speech & Debate Tournament and debate training activities in more than 44 countries introduced thousands of students and coaches to his laidback style and engaging instructional techniques.

An international ambassador for global debating, Dr. Snider was instrumental in bringing World Schools style debate to the United States and served as a coach for the USA Debate Team for the past three years. The USA World Schools Debate Invitational champion trophy is named in his honor.

Dr. Snider received nearly every U.S. award connected with debate coaching, including the 2008 NSDA Humanitarian Award. He dedicated the latter 40-plus years of his life to promoting debate and critical communication as an alternative to violence and as a method for achieving a true civil society. Dr. Snider’s vision for the role of debate in the greater world leaves a legacy in which we can all take part.

On the next few pages, we have compiled some of the many tributes posted online in the days and weeks following Dr. Snider’s passing.

We extend our sincerest condolences to Dr. Snider’s many friends and family. A memorial service will take place on the campus of the University of Vermont on April 29, 2016. We sincerely hope you will be able to attend. Please register at the following web page: http://alum.uvm.edu/snider.

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‘‘ In October, the USA

Debate team spent a weekend training in the hometown of coach Tuna Snider. We spent time in the University of Vermont’s famous Huber House, ate at Tuna’s favorite restaurants, enjoyed the fall foliage, and even recorded a couple of programs to promote debate. The visit brought great joy to Tuna. When we received the news of his passing in December, we were thankful we had such quality time with him just weeks before. Tuna loved the USA Debate team and was proud to bring the format he had worked so hard to advance to the USA and to share the talented American debaters with the world. He will be missed.”

— Cindi Timmons

‘‘

For me, Dr. Alfred Charles Snider is the one who initiated the democratization of speaking movements and conventional oral practices in Africa and the world.

Without his superhuman efforts, some countries of the world, such as Afghanistan or Iraq, would have remained on the margins of the history of the debate. His ephemeral death enunciates the eternal birth of thousands of Snider’s academies and scholars that the world will know in the coming centuries.”

— Binyou-Bi-Homb (translated from French)

‘‘

He was a mentor, coach, and dear friend to so many people who have made positive contributions to our planet. I believe one of the best ways we can honor him, especially those of us who are older, is to serve as mentors to the young people in our communities.”

— Pam Peck

‘‘

Those who were fortunate enough to cross paths with him, always left with what was his greatest gift: you were a better person for having known Tuna.”

— Mindy Hervey

‘‘

With great sorrow, I join thousands of others from around the world in mourning the passing of our beloved friend Tuna.

No other man I know could unite the cry of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Taoists, atheists, and those from every political stripe that is happening at this moment.

He has entrusted to us a world that he believed was full of hope and promise and a charge to make life better for those enslaved and abused, for those who are voiceless. To those who carry on his legacy, we walk behind one of the greatest of all warriors for peace and justice who left in each of us the power to beat swords into plowshares.

We must redouble our efforts in his memory. To my friends Sarah, Justin, and Bojana who are grieving most of all there are no words. . . only love and the hope that the countless voices that join your grief remind you of how widely your father and husband is remembered. To my mentor, travel companion, and friend, I will miss the gleam in your eye and the excitement in your voice when you were working with students and our late night talks while traveling. Thank you for teaching me with kindness. Thank you for all that you have done in your life. Thank you for the privilege of knowing you. Travel spirits be kind, my friend.”

— Cherian Koshy

‘‘

My father changed thousands of lives over his 33 years as the director of the Lawrence Debate Union at the University of Vermont. I am so proud and grateful that I had the opportunity to participate in the LDU as a student.

There was nothing more important to Alfred Snider than making sure that every student who walked through the door had the support to fulfill their goals as a member of the LDU. Big debate teams that serve every single motivated student cost a lot of money.

Over the last week we have learned that for the last several years, my father had been withdrawing large sums of money from his retirement account and generously giving those funds to the university to support the Lawrence Debate Union so that he would never have to turn a single student away.

He used to tell us that there was an anonymous donor who made sure the team was cared for at the end of

each fiscal year. I am both thankful and scared to learn that my dad was this anonymous donor. I am thankful and proud that he supported the LDU, but I am scared that the very students who stood vigil at my father’s deathbed and bravely read messages of love to him from all around the world will not be able to complete their season without my dad’s financial support.

Please consider making a gift to the LDU to support these amazing students who deserve to finish what they started. Visit https://alumni.uvm.edu/ foundation/giving/m, click “Lawrence Debate Union,” and proceed. And please keep these beautiful students in your thoughts, they are incredible.”

— Sarah Jane Green, daughter

‘‘

Tuna empowered and inspired students in countries too numerous to mention, including many that the media portrays as terrorist battle grounds. He fought against tyranny, oppression, and fundamentalism—not with bombs and bullets, but with the greatest weapons of all: free speech, and the open discussion of ideas.”

— Christopher Erskine

‘‘

He was a beloved father and proud grandfather as well as a mentor, teacher, coach, colleague, and friend to many. He left a profoundly positive influence on the lives of countless thousands to the furthest ends of the earth. He loved his work but his work was important. In these tumultuous times, the world needs more Tuna Sniders. It is tragic to lose him, but I can already see that his untimely departure from our world will inspire others to redouble their efforts and take his vision to new levels.”

— Gregg Turner

‘‘

It takes a lot of bravery to look around you and see the world not as it is, but as it should be. You saw the

‘‘

In Tuna’s Own Words Thankful for so many friends.

My Facebook page is awash with birthday greetings.

Thankful that I have a quest in my life, to spread debate everywhere, and thankful that I have so many companions on this quest. The world does not stand a chance against us.

Thankful that the world is not big enough to contain all of my friends. You all break out and into the beyond. The future is too big and the world is too small for us not to meet again, all of us.

Thankful for that special someone.

You know who you are.

Thankful for my many current students. You are swell.

Thankful for my many past students, who are now so many of my close friends.

Thankful for a little village called Puertecitos and my wonderful friends there.

Thankful for Russell Davies who inspired me to never give up on what I love.

Thankful to the LA Dodgers for putting on a great run and doing me proud.

It is now the day after my birthday, but I thought I would wait before posting. Last night I listened to some favorite music and even transcribed some lyrics I thought I would include here, but they were all too serious and often a little gloomy. And, I am glad to say that I am not gloomy.

I am fifty-eight and optimistic.” ­—from Tuna’s blog, 2008

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 103

type of world debate could build and you dedicated your life to the creation of this new world. Because of your dedication a countless number of people have had their lives changed forever. I know I am better off for having you as a friend and confidant.

Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my debate program, dear friend.

All my love to my dearest Tuna, Bojana, and the UVM family. We all stand on the shoulders of a giant.”

— Lindsey Caroline Dixon

‘‘

The world has lost an unrecognized diplomat who didn’t wear the colors of a nation or an organization but probably did more to bring young people together than most diplomats.”

— Rajen Subramanian Athreya

‘‘

Alfred Snider, you were a warm loving person whose enthusiasm and energy to teach and spread the art and might of words was truly one of a kind.

You were an inspiration and I thank you, for guiding thousands of young people all around the world, sometimes in places hardest to reach.”

— Eva Sule

‘‘

Alfred Snider has taught us that debates are not about winning a tournament of any kind. They are about getting involved and becoming aware and heard, about trying to make a difference.”

— Irina Rovda

‘‘

Tuna probably touched more people in the worldwide debate community than anyone else, and perhaps more students worldwide than any educator. He was gruff, unconventional, caring, kind, brilliant, and inexhaustable. I wish I had kept in better touch, and thanked him more

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for the positive influence he had on my life, as well as on that odd debate subculture we all love. The word ‘unique’ is overused to the point of triviality, but he was a unique person who tirelessly gave of his gifts. The more he is remembered, the better the world will be. But I have no fear on that point; he is unforgettable. Thank you, Tuna.”

— John M. Bredehoft

‘‘

You always say ‘speak truth to power.’ I love you, Tuna. Thanks for empowering me.”

— Bonny Filker

‘‘

Thank you for showing me that every person is special and deserves a chance. You did so many things that weren’t glamorous or public—taking time out to meet every novice debater and making them fall in love with debate, tabbing tournaments for free, responding to so many emails asking for advice, quietly sponsoring people who needed financial help, going out of your way to cheer people up and support young coaches, checking to see if people were warm enough for winter, and so much more. That was your leadership style and we need more leaders like that.” ­— Sharmila Parmanand

‘‘

Tuna was a man of conviction.

A man of honor. A man who thought globally AND acted globally. . . ‘Speaking Truth To Power,’ ‘Words Not Weapons,’ and of course ‘Logic and Love.’ I think this statement of his thoughts is one worth repeating: ‘Every day when we act and do what we honestly believe is right, realizing that others should be able to show us that we might be wrong, and we come to a greater understanding together, we make a better world through our actions and also through the example we set, of making logical arguments and

being willing to be persuaded by them. I have no dogma except being willing to be persuaded by your better argument.’

I am sure that Tuna’s family is very proud of his accomplishments and very thankful for the outpouring of well wishes, prayers, positive vibrations, and thoughts. As important as debate was in Tuna’s life, his family was even more important. Tuna was so proud of the person Sarah has become, the accomplishments that she has had personally, and the accomplishments that she and Justin have had together.

His two grandsons Jackson and Levi were always a topic of our conversations.

His love for his wife Bojana cannot be described.”

— Pierre Heidrich

‘‘

Many people can teach the basics of debate, some can be excellent judges and coaches, but very few could ever transmit the excitement and passion he had for debate. We can go back to his books and lectures, but nothing will beat the enthusiasm we would feel talking to him casually at a bar after a long day, or staying a bit longer for personal feedback after a round. He didn’t just speak about how debate could be a force for good in world, he meant and lived every word he said.

He thought that in debate you were allowed to ‘steal from the best’ (which we have and will continue to do) and that you should use debate ethically to ‘speak truth to power’ (which we have tried and will continue to try).

He didn’t believe debate was just about winning rounds, nor that it was a ‘magic bullet’ for the world’s issues; but ‘one possible avenue of helping people interact with one another and address mutual problems,’ ‘light in the problemfilled darkness of the twenty-first century.’ That each of you could be part of that light, ‘a small part in this great effort,’ if you could just ‘do your best and trust yourself.’

He believed ‘love and logic’ could go a long way to solve many of the world’s problems; that we should always try to replace ‘weapons with words’; and he believed in everyone, thus making everyone believe in themselves. He empowered them, he turned confused students into debaters, he made them believe that good could conquer evil, that their voices could make a difference.

He made debating rooms pop-up from China to Palestine, from Serbia to Chile, from Venezuela to Qatar, from Iraq to Botswana, from Greece to Armenia. He often dared to go where others wouldn’t. More than a globetrotter, he was a global citizen.

He liked reggae, Dr. Who, ugly Hawaiian shirts, powerful deliveries, and over-edited photos. He hated when

people were late, or arguments were lazy. He was blunt, charismatic, larger-than-life.

He usually seemed joyful. He smiled a lot; he loved his wife, his family, his friends, and often showed it; he lived a full life doing what made him happy.

He gave us so much, brought so much light to so many places; and through his work and that of his many students and friends he will continue doing so for generations, here in Portugal and around the world.

We miss him, we need him. But we will go forward with our belief that debate can be a force for good in world, a spark of light in dark places; and, in keeping true to our beliefs, we will prove he was not mistaken in his.

‘Travel spirits be kind.’”

— The Portuguese National Universities Debate Council

IN MEMORIAM

SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER & Other Quotes

by Alfred Charles Snider

‘‘ People note that I often

say, ‘Travel spirits be kind,’ as I depart on another trip. That is because in modern travel it is all about luck, so I treat it that way.”

‘‘ Many people think I am

crazy for the frantic way I run around the world doing my work to promote debate, logic, and civil discourse. I have always thought that the ‘doing’ was better than ‘having’ or ‘complaining.’ Let us keep up the struggle, because the right work will bear fruit, but it is hard to know when.”

‘‘ Each of us is a part of this

Dr. Snider photographed in his office on the campus of the University of Vermont in October 2015.

story. Each of us is a part of a better future. Each argument is a small particle of an edifice that might lead to lasting and important changes. My greatest hope is that my work can be a small part of this greater effort. I see debate growing and prospering around the world.

The time seems right to strike some sparks wherever we can in the hope that it will create additional light. Do your best and trust yourself.”

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Employment Opportunities Berkeley Preparatory School Seeks Head Debate Coach (Florida)

• Designing engaging, educational, and levelappropriate teaching activities

The Berkeley Preparatory School, an outstanding independent coeducational day school in Tampa, FL emphasizes academic excellence with a spirit of social responsibility. A gorgeous 80-acre campus serves 1,300 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. Berkeley educates the whole child by nurturing students’ intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and physical development so that they may attain their highest potential.

• Creating valid and reliable assessment items

Berkeley Preparatory School seeks an outstanding faculty member who will serve as Policy Debate Program Head and Coach. They will also teach two upper division classes in their respective discipline of expertise, and a middle division debate elective course.

• Master’s degree in education, communication or ANY other related fields (doctoral degree preferred)

Berkeley has an established and highly successful debate team that travels an extensive national schedule and competes exclusively in policy debate. Because Berkeley is a pre-K to 12 school, there is a great opportunity to start training debaters in the middle grades and watch them flourish through the four years of upper division. Berkeley leadership sees policy debate as an essential reflection of the school’s core mission. The school’s commitment to excellence in debate is unstinting. To that end, the school will staff the program as warranted to achieve its goals.

The start date is August 2016. Interested candidates should submit a letter of interest, a resume, and contact information for two debate-related references to: Ryan Jordan, Upper Division Director, at jordarya@berkeleyprep.org.

Dipont Education Seeks Curriculum Developer: Courses in Debate and Public Speaking (China) Please note we are recruiting both contractor and full-timer for this position. The contractor can work from home in the U.S. About Dipont Dipont Education is a leading education services group in China. One of Dipont’s programs is a nationwide middle and high school speech and debate league and training program that is integrated with the U.S. National Speech & Debate Association (NSDA). Dipont is currently looking for communications and forensics experts to facilitate and further develop this speech and debate program.

Job Description • Designs a set of curricula for debate and public speaking courses; specific work includes: • Writing a course proposal • Building a course syllabus • Selecting a variety of materials for teaching

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• Revising courses based on feedback from other team members • Supports the editing and proofreading of product-related materials Desired Skills and Experience

• Experience in international education or ESL teaching is preferred • Solid knowledge in American K-12 educational system especially in curriculum and instruction • Forensics experience • A team player while able to work independently Salary and Benefits • Dipont provides a competitive compensation package.

Please submit your resume to Yun Xiang at xiangyun@dipont.com or xiangyy@gmail.com.

ENREACH Education Seeks Debate Coach (China) ENREACH is seeking full-time speech and debate coaches to be based in high schools in partnership with Dipont Education Management Group and the ENREACH centers in different cities around China. The teacher may be asked to teach in the evenings and on weekends, and the teaching hour will be no more than 26 periods per week, amounting to no more than 40 working hours.

Responsibilities: • Teaching the debate course provided by ENREACH at designated partner schools and ENREACH centers.

• Assisting teachers at partner schools in recruiting and training students interested in speech and debate.

• Organizing debate clubs and conducting individual and group practices during and after the academic day as well as on evenings and weekends.

• Supervising and judging at local and national tournaments.

• Training and supervising judges.

• Preparation of research packets to be used by students in debate competitions.

• Work collaboratively with other coaches in developing and refining debate course curriculum and general program development.

More Speech & Debate Jobs Available Online:

www.speechanddebate.org/jobs Qualifications: • A minimum of a bachelor’s degree.

• Previous experience with high school speech/debate.

• Two years of classroom teaching experience or other related work experience.

• Ability to work collaboratively and communicate effectively with students, parents, fellow teachers and school administrators.

• Capable of cross-cultural communication.

Interested candidates should submit a letter of interest, a resume, and contact information to HR at hr@dipont-edu.com.

Hackley School Seeks Upper School Debate Coach (New York) Hackley School, a K-12 independent school located in Tarrytown, NY is seeking a debate coach to support the successful and growing debate program in the Upper School.

The coach would be working with both novice and varsity debaters. Experience with high school and/or college debate is preferred, along with some experience with Public Forum Debate. The coach would be expected to lead the debate classes that happen during the school day, organize practices and meetings outside the school day, travel with the team as the lead chaperone for these events, and attend to the administrative details of the program. It is a part-time position.

Interested candidates should send a resume and cover letter to Andy King, Upper School Director, at aking@hackleyschool.org.

sophomore, junior, and senior years. It will have a curriculum that will require research, writing, and analytical thinking.

The course will require that students attend a minimum of seven tournaments throughout the school year. Students will work in groups as well individually to help each other prepare and learn.

Visit the Kent Denver website at www.kentdenver. org, go to “job openings,” and click through to reach the application portal. Please direct any questions about clarification to Terry Rubin, Director of Speech and Debate at trubin@kentdenver.org.

Korea Poly School MPOLY Language Academy Seeks Debate Teacher (South Korea) MPOLY is a language academy in Seoul that teaches a comprehensive liberal arts program wholly in English to higher level middle school students, many of whom have lived abroad. We are seeking a debate teacher to provide instruction in debate, public speaking, research, and critical thinking skills to our students.

Skills/Experience/Qualifications • The ideal candidate has experience with debate tournaments, is an enthusiastic teacher, a team player with good communication skills, and a creative and critical thinker looking to demonstrate those skills to students.

• A university degree is required • Experience debating and/or judging Parliamentary, Public Forum, and Lincoln-Douglas formats an asset • Teaching or coaching experience a significant asset

Kent Denver School Seeks Debate Director and History or Math Teacher (Colorado)

• Strong interpersonal skills

The Grier Family Chair is a full-time faculty position at Kent Denver School. Eligible candidates will teach an “Advanced Debate Course” and receive one section of relief for directing the debate program at Kent Denver, coaching Kent Denver debaters, traveling with the debate team to national circuit and local tournaments, and developing and maintaining the middle school debate program and elective. To complete the full-time position, the holder of the Grier Family Chair will also teach two sections of History or Math. Qualified individuals will have extensive experience running a national circuit debate program and have expertise in the instruction of local and national circuit styles of Policy and Lincoln-Douglas Debate.

They will have experience in building and maintaining a winning program that competes on the national circuit and qualifies for the tournament of champions consistently. Advanced Debate will be a yearlong History course that can be taken

Duties and Responsibilities

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team • Teach speech and debate skills to middle school students • Generate and research arguments within a group setting • Create PPTs and/or lesson plans for a variety of resolutions and levels • Coach competitive teams in a variety of events • Help identify needs and establish goals for groups and individual debaters • Help plan and execute events Monthly Salary: 2.7 and up depending on experience Furnished housing and air transport (ticket to be purchased by employer) to Korea provided.

Interested persons should apply ASAP by sending a

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Employment Opportunities current resume, photo, and letter describing their interest and qualifications to the Head Debate Teacher, Claire, at youngmpoly@gmail.com.

including international tournaments.

Qualifications (must haves) • Bachelor’s • Forensic experience and expertise

Kudos College of Youth Leadership Seeks Speech/Debate Teacher (Irvine, CA; Temple City, CA; Shanghai, China; and Taiwan)

• Passion for teaching and coaching

The successful candidates will teach with innovation within established curriculum and will supplement and adapt course materials as needed. They will work with other debate coaches and the Head Coach to plan and coordinate coursework as well as help prepare students for competition.

• Model United Nations • Civics or Economics expertise

Skills/Experience/Qualifications

• Salary based on qualifications; overtime available

• The ideal candidate is an enthusiastic teacher with at least two years of debate tournament experience, either in competition or coaching, a team player with good communication skills, and a creative, critical thinker.

• Includes flights and housing stipend

• Cross-cultural experience an asset.

• Bachelor’s degree required.

• Teaching/coaching experience a significant asset.

• Strong interpersonal skills, detailed oriented.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

Duties • Teach speech and debate skills to middle school and high school students.

Preferences (but not necessary) • Teaching certificate

Contract • Year-long contract starts ASAP

Applicants should send CV and cover letter to leaderslearning@gmail.com. Include “NSDA Recruitment” in the subject heading.

About Leaders Academy Leaders Academy is one of the oldest and most respected debate academies in Korea. The majority of grand champions in NFL-Korea events in the 20122013 academic year trained at Leaders Academy.

Leaders Academy, Jaesok Building 4F, 908-1 Daechi, Gangnam, Seoul, Korea Phone: 82-2-562-9799

• Generate and research arguments.

• Create lesson plans for a variety of resolutions and levels.

• Coach competitive teams in a variety of events.

• Work with other teachers to further develop the debate program.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information for two debate-related references to Susan Solebello at susan@hralacarteca.com.

For complete details, visit www.speechanddebate.org/jobs.

North Star Academy College Preparatory High School Seeks IE Coach (New Jersey) North Star Academy is an award-winning urban high school in Newark, NJ. We have a new and growing Policy Debate team and would like to add speech events, particularly Original Oratory, Dramatic Interp, Duo, etc. The position would be half-time English teaching, half-time speech.

Email Mike Mann, Head of School at mmann@northstaracademy.org.

Leaders Academy Seeks Teacher (Seoul, South Korea) Job Responsibilities • Primary instruction is debate and speech. Secondarily, focus on English and social studies. Design and manage curriculum.

• Provide differentiated instruction to a variety of abilities and counsel students to find appropriate competitions.

• Provide in-depth feedback and guidance to both students and parents about the progress of each student.

• Will coach students at tournaments, possibly

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Okasan and Me Inc. Seeks Student Teacher Policy Debate or Public Forum (California) Seeking high school student teacher of Policy Debate and/ or Public Forum for small class in San Jose, CA. Meets during the summer, June through August 2016. We would like the student teacher to continue throughout the school year on an on-call basis. Flexible hours and will work around student teacher schedule. Straight salary; we do not offer housing for the student teacher.

More Speech & Debate Jobs Available Online:

www.speechanddebate.org/jobs For complete details, visit www.okasanandme.com.

Please submit resume to the corporation Okasan and Me Inc. at okasanandme@Msn.com.

The Pike School Seeks Speech and Debate Teacher Grades 6-8 (Massachusetts) F/T. Start immediately. Provide leadership of the interscholastic competitive speech team. Strong background and experience in teaching speech/public speaking and various types of debate. Experience coaching in the areas of speech and debate at a competitive level also preferred. Visit The Pike School’s employment page at www.pikeschool.org/ employment and click “apply” below the job description.

Fill out the form and attach the requested material.

SpeakFirst - Impact Alabama Seeks SpeakFirst Coach - AmeriCorps Member (Alabama) SpeakFirst enriches the academic experience of gifted students from Birmingham’s public high schools through participation in an “all-star” debate team. This highly collaborative initiative

addresses a wide array of needs created by the deficit of opportunities and resources in their local communities, including one-on-one tutoring and mentoring, college admissions and financial aid guidance, standardized test preparation, youth development activities, and summer internships for the debaters.

A SpeakFirst coach will work with Impact Alabama staff and the SpeakFirst coaching team to develop and implement debate curriculum for the SpeakFirst initiative. The SpeakFirst initiative brings together 20 exemplary high school students from Birmingham area schools that do not provide a formal debate structure into an all-star debate team that participates in tournaments in Alabama and across the Southeast. A SpeakFirst coach will also serve alongside the SpeakFirst Middle School Coordinator and three high school coaches to lead the SpeakFirst Middle School Debate League, which is comprised of seven Birmingham middle schools.

SpeakFirst coaches are full-time AmeriCorps members who receive a living stipend of $12,530 and earn an education award totaling $5,775 upon completion of service.

Interested candidates should apply online. For complete details, visit www.speechanddebate.org/jobs. For questions, please email Rachel Puckett at rpuckett@impactamerica.com.

APPLY FOR PROFESSIONAL

ACCREDITATION

The National Speech & Debate Association has created additional ways for you to earn special recognition for coaching and teaching speech and debate! We offer five distinct levels of accreditation for member coaches and teachers.

Visit www.speechanddebate.org/accreditation to learn more and access the online application form.

Speech & Debate Educator Endorsement Professional Speech & Debate Educator Advanced Professional Speech & Debate Educator Professional Speech & Debate Coach Advanced Professional Speech & Debate Coach

Rostrum | WINTER 2016 109

Simpson College is proud to host

P U BL IC F O RU M

DEBATE CAMP

June 26-July 1, 2016 Indianola, Iowa

$425 includes: Five day camp All meals except breakfast $525 includes: Five day camp w/lodging All meals

• Open to students entering grades 9-12 in the fall of 2016 • The camp will include five days of direct instruction, practice rounds and a camp tournament • Students and coaches will be taught by some of the top debate instructors in the country • First-timers and experienced debaters welcome • Air-conditioned lodging • Evening activities and supervision provided For more information, please email spencer.waugh@simpson.edu or visit the web.

www.simpson.edu/debate

Looking for a good policy debate textbook?

From total novice to first tournament in a month!

The “How to” of Debate is an excellent INTRODUCTORY TEXTBOOK that will help you get your novices started right. You can spend less time lecturing your novices on the basic terms and more time practicing skills, writing blocks, and, of course, debating!

The “How to” of Debate is: -

clear and readable; concise, straightforward definitions based on current policy debate theory, including counterplans and critiques focused on the skills and attitudes novices need to compete successfully, including paperless debate fully indexed for handy reference

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For paper copies, go to http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/coach_hanes or amazon.com For e-books (Kindle format), email the author at russellhanes@gmail.com

Top 50 Districts (Ranked by average number of charter chapter degrees as of January 1, 2016)

Rank Change District

1 2 2 4 5 6 7 7 7 10 11 12 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 26 28 28 30 30 30 33 34 34 36 36 38 38 40 41 42 42 44 45 46 47 47 49 49

-- -1 -- -- -1 1 -6 -1 -2 -3 1 5 -- -1 4 -1 1 -- -- -- -2 -1 1 -2 -3 5 -3 -3 -5 -- -4 5 -3 3 -1 -3 10 1 -2 2 1 -3 -- -2 -1 3 -4 -3 1 -3

East Kansas Florida Manatee Three Trails (KS) Kansas Flint-Hills Ozark (MO) Northern South Dakota Rocky Mountain-South (CO) Show Me (MO) New York City Eastern Ohio Nebraska California Coast (CA) Rushmore (SD) Sunflower (KS) East Los Angeles (CA) Northwest Indiana Idaho Mountain River Heart Of America (MO) Northern Ohio Northern Illinois East Texas Montana Golden Desert (NV) Southern Minnesota Central Minnesota West Kansas Carver-Truman (MO) Colorado North Coast (OH) New England (MA & NH) New Jersey Carolina West (NC) Northeast Indiana San Fran Bay (CA) Florida Oceanfront South Florida West Iowa Southern California Eastern Missouri Greater Illinois South Kansas Western Ohio Lone Star (TX) Idaho Gem of the Mountain New York State South Texas Illini (IL) Space City (TX) New Mexico Pittsburgh (PA)

No. of Degrees

Average Leading Chapter No. of Degrees 244 197 197 188 167 165 151 151 151 146 145 144 144 142 140 137 134 132 124 120 117 116 115 112 108 107 107 106 106 104 104 104 103 102 102 101 101 99 99 98 97 94 94 91 90 89 87 87 86 86

Olathe Northwest High School Nova High School Blue Valley North High School Washburn Rural High School Central High School - Springfield Watertown High School George Washington High School Lee’s Summit West High School The Bronx High School Of Science Perry High School Millard North High School Leland High School Sioux Falls Lincoln High School Valley Center High School Gabrielino High School Munster High School Highland High School Liberty Sr. High School Canfield High School Glenbrook North High School William P. Clements High School Bozeman High School Green Valley High School Eagan High School Eastview High School Garden City High School Neosho High School Cherry Creek High School Solon High School Lexington High School Ridge High School Ardrey Kell High School Chesterton High School James Logan High School Boca Raton Community High School Braddock High School Dowling Catholic High School Carlsbad High School Ladue Horton Watkins High School Belleville West High School Fort Scott High School Mason High School Grapevine High School Mountain Home High School Scarsdale High School Bellaire High School Downers Grove South High School Seven Lakes High School Los Alamos High School North Allegheny Sr. High School

527 805 667 414 681 355 471 466 801 345 594 804 407 485 833 356 426 583 321 447 447 293 357 554 459 244 383 621 283 369 330 262 405 450 290 245 303 371 223 164 237 230 292 165 347 514 330 256 166 430

View complete rankings online at www.speechanddebate.org.

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geico.com/stu/nsda | 1-800-368-2734 GEICO contracts with various membership entities and other organizations, but these entities do not underwrite the offered insurance products. Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states or all GEICO companies. Discount amount varies in some states. One group discount applicable per policy. Coverage is individual. In New York a premium reduction may be available. GEICO may not be involved in a formal relationship with each organization; however, you still may qualify for a special discount based on your membership, employment or affiliation with those organizations. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, D.C. 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. © 2016 GEICO

National Speech & Debate Association

ONLINE INSTITUTE

REGISTER FOR THE SUMMER ONLINE INSTITUTE! The Online Institute is an affordable and convenient enrichment opportunity for high school students and coaches. Save the expense of traveling to camps by participating online! You will receive individual instruction and guidance from renowned coaches across the country committed to helping you succeed.

www.speechanddebate.org/institute

Summer 2016 Sessions: ff Policy Debate BRIAN RUBAIE DATES: JUNE 6-10

ff Congressional Debate JEFF HANNAN DATES: JUNE 20-24

ff Interpretation KRIS HALL DATES: JUNE 27-JULY 1

ff Original Oratory HARRISON POSTLER DATES: JULY 5-9

ff Public Forum Debate NEFERTITI DUKES & MEGAN WEST DATES: JULY 25-29

ff Extemporaneous Speaking BILL THOMPSON DATES: AUGUST 1-5

ff Lincoln-Douglas Debate KRIS WRIGHT DATES: AUGUST 8-12

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