Junior (Grade 6 - 9) Impromptu Debate Tournament at Acadia Junior High

Junior Impromptu Debate Tournament (Grade 6 to 9) at Acadia Junior High

Date: Tuesday, January 17, 2023. 

Time: Registration for competitors will be from 4:30 to 5:00. (Judges may register at any time until 5:40.)

The resolutions will be distributed at 5:15 SHARP. Preparation for both rounds of the debate will happen from 5:15-6:20.  Please be early or at least on time so that your students have the appropriate amount of time to prepare. Awards are around 8:30 pm.

Location: Acadia Junior High, 175 Killarney Ave, Winnipeg

Parking: Please feel free to park in any available space in the staff parking lot.

Resolution: This will be an impromptu debate tournament, using kid friendly topics. Some potential options: the environment, immigration, health issues, teenage behavior

There will be 2 rounds and all teams will debate both sides. In the case of this impromptu debate there will be two different resolutions. The students will have an opportunity to debate one round as Government and one round as Opposition. The debate preparation for both rounds will happen prior to debating the first round. In impromptu debates no adult coaching, no canned debate notes/casebooks, research, including books, magazines, internet or computer research, are allowed during the preparation time. Squirrelling the definition will not be tolerated.

Speaking times for all debates will be a maximum of 6 minutes for constructive speeches and 3 minutes for rebuttals. There is no minimum time. Heckling is not allowed. Points of information are allowed in the open category. They are described in the parliamentary rules available on the MSDA website.

https://sites.google.com/site/manitobadebate/rules-and-scoresheets/parliamentary-debate-rules

There will be separate novice and open categories at the tournament. In order to qualify as novice, debaters must be in their first year of debating or must be grade 6. Schools may send a maximum of 3 teams in total, i.e. adding together the novice and open teams. Schools must bring at least one judge per 2 person team. Senior high students, grades 10 to 12, who are experienced debaters, may judge. If this presents a problem, please contact me about it and we will see if other arrangements can be made. If more judges can be brought, they are always appreciated.

Please fill out the google survey below to register your school by Wednesday, January 11th.

https://forms.gle/trh7mee5WxWJ5Jps7

Snacks will be served between rounds.

Direct question to Jared Thorlakson at  jthorlakson@pembinatrails.ca  if you are cancelling a team at the last minute so that we can fill your spot.