Talk-a-thon at The Galleria

The Edina debate and speech teams are jointly hosting an 11-hour talk-a-thon.  By the end of the day our team members will have spoken a quarter million words.  The Galleria is providing a fabulous location and all of the facilities needed to make this event special.  The event begins at 10AM on Saturday, August 22nd and ends at 9PM.  All through the day mall visitors will be treated to speeches and debates put on by the Edina debate and speech teams. 

This is a fundraiser for the Edina Friends of Forensics as well.  You will be sent more information on how this works.

Here is the online signup sheet for parent and student volunteers.

Donations to the team are accepted online here. 

Download pledge sheet here. 

What you need to do is participate! We need debaters and parents both to volunteer to make this event run properly.  

2015-16 Practice Times, version 2.0

The 2015-16 practice schedule is organized to better work around our many debaters that are in UMTYMP.

Note: There are a few changes here now that UMTYMP schedules are now known.  No schedule is going to be conflict free.  If there is a drastic problem, we'll adjust one way or the other.  

First practice is Monday, August 17th.

And we've added time slots for Extemp Speaking and Oratory as well. 

Prior to Labor Day:

• All novice (new) debaters will practice in the same time slot, from 6-8 on Monday and Thursday.  We'll break you into smaller group and events later. 
• Practices will be at the Edina Community Center

After Labor Day all practices will be in the Math hallway (317-324) of EHS and times/dates will vary more for novices depending on their debate event.

All-team all-parent meeting will be Wednesday, September 9th 6:30 PM at EHS Fick Auditorium. 

Click for larger image of schedule

Invitation to Hornet Camp

We are hosting a 3-day mini-camp for LD and PF debaters this summer. Below is a copy of the email sent by camp organizer Coach Tim Greenfield:

I am emailing today to invite students to a free 3-day debate “minicamp” from July 29 to July 31, held at the Edina Community Center, Room 351.  The free minicamp is available for all returning members of both Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas debate, thanks to the Edina Friends of Forensics. Appropriately named “Hornet Camp”, the 3 days will cover skills and techniques for both Public Forum and Lincoln-Douglas debate while not requiring a significant amount of time researching and writing.  These 3 days will help us get off to a strong start next season. For those students who aren’t going to debate camp this summer, these 3 days will give a feel for the focused atmosphere needed to become a better debater.  If you’re a student who attended and just returned from debate camp this summer, do not feel pressured to attend, but if you are willing to work with your teammates and coaches, you’re more than welcome to attend!

If you are available and willing, please email me at tgreenfield122@gmail.com or call me at 612-619-0789.  Initial registration is open until July 7th. Since I am leaving for debate camp on July 9, any people wanting to participate in camp but not registered before July 7th will be on a waiting list.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.  

For those students signed up, further information will be released the week of July 6th leading up to the camp. For each day, students will be expected to bring the ‘usual’ debate supplies of pens, paper, a timer, a water bottle, a computer (complete with a fully charged battery), and since we will be working into the afternoon, packing a lunch is encouraged.

National School of Honor 2015

2015 National School of Honor in Debate

Nationals 2015 Information

 





NSDA National Tournament
June 15-19 2015
Dallas, Texas

Coach 
Andy Charrier

Format
6 prelim rounds, 2 judges for each round.  Everybody with 8 ballots or more clears.  Records are all reset to 0-0 and the tournament then runs just as it does for national qualifiers. Registration is Sunday. Debates begin on Monday and you debate each day until eliminated.  Finals of some events begin on Thursday night and continue all day Friday, so there is plenty to do.

Notes

•  This is nationals, so dress is more formal than a tournament in Iowa City - policy debaters you don't need to be full-formal but no jeans either.  LD is like January in MN.  You could easily debate for 3 or 4 days, so plan accordingly.
• The tournament is held in a giant convention center/hotel in downtown Dallas.  We were here a few years ago for nationals and there are plenty of food choices nearby. 
• We have suites for rooms so there should be plenty of elbow room for the week. 
• Our goal would be to win a national excellence award, which starts with needing all 5 of you to clear.

Hotel
Dallas Marriott Suites Medical/Market Center
2493 N Stemmons Fwy, Dallas, TX 75207

Flight Info - we're flying on Saturday because airfare is that much cheaper. Southwest runs out of Terminal 2-Humphrey (not the main airport).  We'll meet at 4PM and go through ticketing and security together.  Southwest gives you 2 checked bags for free.  My phone is 651-387-8305.

Novice Debate Questions, Answered

What grade can somebody join Debate? 
8th grade in the Fall of 2015 is about as early as we'd like to see people join the team.  About 50% of debaters begin in 8th grade, the rest join in 9th or 10th grade.

Are slides from the May 20th presentation available? 
Yes!  Here they are -- the presentation slides from the debate information meeting. 

When are the tournaments? 
Most of the Saturdays in October, November and first weekend in December.  We do have a calendar of novice tournaments (highlighted in yellow) posted online.  Novices will debate on these days:
Sept 26
Oct 3
Oct 10
Oct 24
Oct 31
Nov 6 and/or 7
Nov 13 and/or 14
Nov 21
Dec 4-5

When is practice? 
All novices practice 6-8 on Mondays.  We have three different debate events, at least one of which will practice in the 4-6 time slot on Wednesdays, another in the 6-8 slot on Wednesdays, and the third will be 6-8 on Thursdays.  We're trying to work around faith commitments on Wednesdays and UMTYMP on Thursdays.  Most UMTYMP courses for younger students are offered on Thursdays + there is a bus available, so our recommendation is that UMTYMP students do debate on Wednesday and math on Thursday.

We will adjust novice practice times to work around conferences and music performances that take many students out of practice for the night. 

Thanks to All!

Thanks to all who attended the debate informational meeting tonight!