Speech & Debate

Speech & Debate is offered as a 2nd period
class for the 2023-24 school year.

It allows beginners and returning competitors to build confidence,
find their voices, and express themselves.

Though you can participate in Speech & Debate just by attending the after school meetings on Mondays, students tend to perform better competitively and get more out of the Speech & Debate experience if they are enrolled in the class.

Students who enroll in the Speech & Debate class MUST
be able to attend selected Saturday competitions.
This is part of their class grade.
The full tournament schedule will be
available around mid-August.

By taking the Speech & Debate class, you have
daily access to both your coach and your teammates.
This means you are able to receive more frequent feedback and
build strong relationships with the rest of the team. 

One benefit of being in the Speech & Debate class is that you have time set aside
during the school day to work on pieces for upcoming deadlines and competitions.

That being said, it’s up to you to use your time wisely and work outside of class if necessary.

Right now, our school system is opening normally with no plans to offer an online learning option,
but several schools across the country have started offering free or low cost online tournaments. 

A list of optional online tournaments is posted on BAND under the "Events" tab.

Unless otherwise specified, online tournaments are asynchronous.
Rather than performing live via video call, students will record their competition pieces and upload them to YouTube.
These videos may be unlisted for privacy, but students will submit video links for their competition judges to view and score.

In the fall, we have about 1 in-person tournament per month.
These are all open competitions, meaning that no prior experience is required.
Tournaments are on Saturdays.

In the spring, there is one open competition in January and one in February,
but the second semester is mostly comprised of qualifier tournaments, like National Qualifiers, Districts, and State.
If our applications are accepted, the team also expects to attend the
Emory University tournament in Atlanta, GA from 1/25 to 1/28.

On in-person tournament days, we will leave via school bus and spend all day at the competition site.

Yes.

The Morristown East Hurricane Invitational will be on February 24, 2024.
All competitors are expected to help prepare for, host, and clean up the tournament.
If you do not assist with the Hurricane Invitational, you cannot attend Districts or National Qualifiers.

For in-person tournaments, the cost is usually $10 per event.
In most cases, you can take up to 3 events.

You will also need to bring money for food if you chose not to pack your own. 

Overnight trips are never mandatory because they include a travel cost
(around $100 per evening for hotel and bus), and the entry fees are often higher.

For example, National Qualifiers is a 1 night stay in Cookeville, and entry fees were $10 each.
Students may double-enter, so the max travel cost for National Qualifiers in 2023 was $120.

Last year, Emory University entry fees were listed at $100 each, but the tournament directors allowed lower-income schools to submit a fee waiver. We were approved, so students only paid for the three-night stay ($300).

Some schools host virtual competitions.  Naturally, there are no travel charges for virtual tournaments, and competition events are typically free or around $5-10 per event.  Sometimes, you can have unlimited entries, so you aren't restricted to the usual 3 event rule.

Each tournament, even virtual ones, has a posted "drop deadline" for all contestants.
Any entries dropped after the deadline incur a penalty.
Typically, this fee is $10 per entry dropped in addition to the entry fee.
For virtual competition, an entry is considered "dropped" if the video link is not submitted before the deadline.

If a student has to drop an event past the deadline for any reason, they are responsible for paying the associated fees. Repeatedly dropping from events can result in dismissal from the team.

Unfortunately, no. 

Though it is offered as a class, Speech & Debate competition fees are paid to the host schools.
These are not covered by the fee waiver form.
You can participate in fundraisers to lower the cost of competition and/or enroll in a payment plan.

Fundraising opportunities will be communicated via BAND.

All students are required to have a signed permission packet on file with Ms. Wexler prior to their first competition.
Extra copies can be printed [link needs updated.]

New this Year:
Speech & Debate students will need to bring a 1" or 1.5" three-ring binder to keep in the classroom filing cabinet.
This will store their portfolio and competition ballots.

All students are expected to bring charged laptops to class each day.
Students are also expected to keep up with any materials required to work on competition pieces during class,
such as books, flow sheets, props, scripts, source materials, easels, etc.

Students who attend after school meetings should show up ready to work, share ideas, and get to know other people.

 At the meetings, you may be paired with another student who competes in a similar event,
or you may be working with Ms. Wexler. Because we only see each other once per week,
I do expect to see progress on the notes I gave you at the previous meeting.
This helps you get the most out of your experience in Speech & Debate and allows you to prepare for future competition.

Naturally, when it comes to the different competition events, you can easily research those online.
A good starting place is the THSSDL or NSDA webpages. The NSDA YouTube Channel also has lots of video examples.

Expectations for behavior are outlined in the Speech & Debate team permission packet.
A digital, printable copy is available [update link]

To see what to expect at your first in-person tournament, check out [update link]

Deadlines and progress checks are intended to keep you on track and prepared for competition.
It is your responsibility to meet your goals before these deadlines.

In my class, the most common reason for failing grades is missing work.
For Speech & Debate, this includes missing required competitions.

Simply put, turn in your work on time. Attend required competitions.
Don't indebt yourself and tank your grade with drop fees and zeroes.
If you miss class, it's up to you to make up your work as soon as possible.

Please communicate with me as soon as possible if you are falling behind,
and make sure that if you need to drop an event for competition, please do so before the drop deadline.

Not only are plagiarism and cheating ethically wrong, but it will get you disqualified at competition and further disciplinary action will be taken. Throughout the semester, you are required to upload copies of your scripts, speeches, and/or debate cases with citations and original source material, if applicable. This must be readily available at competition in case you are accused of plagiarism or other rules violations.

To ensure that your competition pieces are rules-legal, please visit the
THSSDL or NSDA webpages and familiarize yourselves with the rules for your chosen events.

Occasionally, I will post extra credit assignments or announce volunteer opportunities.
Like all other team communication, these will be announced via BAND.
Students may also earn extra tournament participation grades by attending an approved, but not required, tournament.