It is almost time for Districts!
After lots of hard work we are almost ready to head to our district’s national tournament qualifier. It begins Friday February 12 and will end in the evening on February 13. There are many different moving pieces and this tournament is NOT like most tournaments.
Please read through this entire post and if you have any questions or concerns ask them as soon as possible. Do not wait until Friday to start planning and solving problems.
The biggest difference between this tournament and other tournaments is that when a student gets “two downs” they are “out” and do not continue to compete. In debate this means if you lose two rounds (despite how many you might win) you are done. In speech it means if you are ranked in the bottom half of their round two times (For example: in a six person round they are ranked 4, 5, or 6 for more than one round) you are done. This means that some people might not compete on Saturday but we won’t know until the end of the night Friday.
After lots of hard work we are almost ready to head to our district’s national tournament qualifier. It begins Friday February 12 and will end in the evening on February 13. There are many different moving pieces and this tournament is NOT like most tournaments.
Please read through this entire post and if you have any questions or concerns ask them as soon as possible. Do not wait until Friday to start planning and solving problems.
The biggest difference between this tournament and other tournaments is that when a student gets “two downs” they are “out” and do not continue to compete. In debate this means if you lose two rounds (despite how many you might win) you are done. In speech it means if you are ranked in the bottom half of their round two times (For example: in a six person round they are ranked 4, 5, or 6 for more than one round) you are done. This means that some people might not compete on Saturday but we won’t know until the end of the night Friday.
When a student is “out” they can choose to stay and watch
rounds (which we recommend) or they can go home. So there is no particular time we can tell you
that your student will be finished.
Arrival Times Friday:
(Students are not excused from classes) Extemp: Arrive at JHS at 3pm – Draw at 3:30. Speech: Arrive at JHS at 3:30 – First Round at 4pm. Debate: Arrive at JHS at 4:00 – First round at 5pm. |
Arrive Times Saturday:
(If still competing) Extemp: Arrive at JHS at 7:20 – Draw at 7:45 Speech: Arrive at JHS at 7:30 – First Round at 8am. Debate: Arrive at JHS at 8:45 – First Round at 9:30am. |
The full schedule can be found here --> http://www.joyoftournaments.com/nfl/westia/info.asp?p=3
Students need to bring money for food and a whole lot of patience. Parents are also welcome to come join the festivities and watch rounds. There are large time breaks between rounds and often the tournament will run behind schedule. That is beyond our control and we just have to stay positive. It is a good thing to have to be there late into Saturday afternoon – that means we’re winning!
Finally – there are two more opportunities for students to qualify for nationals if this weekend doesn’t go the way they’d like. We still have the Congressional Debate district qualifier on April 2 and students can apply to be selected for our district’s World School’s Debate team.
This is an exciting and (good) stress filled weekend. Please feel free to bring coffee, chocolate, and anything from La Mie to keep the coaches – uhhh I mean students -- in good spirits. :)
Go! Fight! Win!
Mrs. McCool
Mrs. McCool
And for the students who were asking (and planning Valentines) here is a link to a list of the names of every TRHS person competing (TOTALLY OPTIONAL). http://bit.ly/1Q7cJYg
