Denver Public Schools Invitational 

February 5-6, 2021

Dear Speech and Debate Coaches,

The coaches of Denver Public Schools would love for you to join us for Denver Public Schools Virtual Tournament on February 5th and  6th.

We will be offering 3 preliminary rounds of all events and finals in all events except Congressional Debate.

Denver Public Schools Commitment to Inclusion:

"In DPS, we are proud to be a Safe and Welcoming School District, where we are dedicated to helping Every Child Succeed. DPS embraces our diverse students, families and communities. One of our district’s core beliefs is that diversity is a community treasure and equity is at the core of our mission. We commit to building a culture that embraces the unique identity and potential of every child." https://www.dpsk12.org/safe-and-welcoming-school-district/

 

Asynchronous Events: Video links are due by 5pm February 3rd for Thursday release to judges.

Humor, Drama, DUO (Split Screen), Poetry, Original Oratory, Informative Speaking, Program of Oral Interpretation

Synchronous Events: Students are expected to arrive early to the round for sound and visual checks. 

Extemporaneous Speaking (US and IX), Impromptu Speaking

Public Forum Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Varsity Cross Examination Debate, JV Cross Examination Debate (NSDA case limits, no Counterplans, No Kritiks).

Congressional Debate

Double Entering: Students may enter in 1 synchronous event and 1 asynchronous event OR 2 asynchronous events OR 1 synchronous event and Congressional Debate. Students may not triple enter.

Judges: (Marti Benham's wording): "Each school is responsible for providing judges. The tournament will not be paying the judges that you provide to cover your entries. Judges must be available for the three preliminary rounds and the final round. One judge must be provided for every two debaters. One judge must be provided for every 5 events entries. Judges must be entered in Speechwire by Wednesday, February 3rd. Judges are responsible for checking for ballots at the appropriate times. Judge fees will be imposed for missing judges and for judges who miss ballots."

Each school is responsible for making sure the individuals they enter as judges know how to judge in the virtual setting.  The tournament staff will be unable to train and set up tech support the morning of the tournament.  

Schools who have entries in Congressional Debate must provide a judge able to judge congress and should therefore have a working knowledge of how to adjudicate the event.

All judges are expected to judge from a default of grace and understanding. Differences in the quality of space, sound, and video that are beyond the control of the student are not to influence decisions. While "camera on" is the preferred presence for all synchronous competitors and judges, realize that bandwidth issues may render this impossible.

JUDGES ARE ADVISED TO PLEASE START ROUNDS IMMEDIATELY FOR SYNCHRONOUS EVENTS BY CLICKING "START" AT THE BEGINNING OF BALLOT ACCESS.

Debate Resolutions:

Public Forum Debate February Resolution 

Resolved: On balance, the benefits of urbanization in West Africa outweigh the harms. *Note, this resolution was misprinted in an earlier version of this invitation. Apologies.

Lincoln Douglas Debate January/February resolution

                      Resolved: States ought to ban lethal autonomous weapons.

Policy Debate 2020-2021 Resolution

Resolved: The United States federal government should enact substantial criminal justice reform in the United States in one or more of the following: forensic science, policing, sentencing.

Congressional Debate: On Friday, February 5th, we will be offering two 1.5 hour preliminary rounds of Congressional Debate with a single PO determined in the first session. Students will remain in the same house for the duration of the tournament. Schools who have entries in Congressional Debate must provide a judge with knowledge of congress. Please send legislation to lyn_davies@dpsk12.net. The docket will be posted 1 week prior to the tournament.

Registration: Please register at www.speechwire.com.  Registration will close Friday January 29th at 5pm unless tournament caps are reached prior to this in which case certain events may close sooner and a waitlist started. We will send updated check-in information when the tournament schedule is released.

Rules: We will be using NSDA rules for all competition which can be found here https://www.speechanddebate.org/wp-content/uploads/HS-Unified-Manual_2020-2021.pdf. 

Please refer to this document for the CHSAA rules for virtual tournaments: https://docs.google.com/document/d/131SfREACHMvJ7VbJvImpyZchEIEyou02sVmQXCDbofQ/edit

A coach is expected to be available online or via cell/text for the duration of live competition.

We will be enforcing the NSDA harassment and discrimination policy which can be found at https://www.speechanddebate.org/inclusion/ and is embodied in this statement from the NSDA: 

The National Speech & Debate Association is committed to providing its participants, judges, coaches, and staff the opportunity to pursue excellence in their endeavors. This opportunity can exist only when each member of our community is assured an atmosphere of mutual respect. The NSDA prohibits all forms of harassment and discrimination. Accordingly, all forms of harassment and discrimination, whether written or oral, based on race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital status, citizenship, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by any applicable federal, state, or local law are prohibited, whether committed by participants, judges, coaches, or observers. Individuals who are found to have violated this policy will be subject to the full range of sanctions, up to and including removal from the tournament premises.

— Approved by the NSDA Board of Directors on December 13, 2018

Sweeps: We will be awarding sweepstakes in large and small school categories. More specifics on this will be forthcoming.

Awards: The awards ceremony will be hosted virtually at the end of the tournament on Zoom with an accompanying slide show.

Digital Platforms: The coaches room, tab room and judges lounge will be hosted on Zoom. We will be using NSDA campus for synchronous competition. All links will be made available through Speechwire.

Payment: The cost to compete will be $10 per entry.

Please make checks payable to:

 "GWSPO" 

308 N. Ivanhoe St 

Denver, CO 80222 

OR If people want to pay for the DPS tournament using a credit card, here is the paypal link: 

Questions: Please contact Maryrose Kohan (text or call 720-891-2818 or email maryrose_kohan@dpsk12.net) or Lyn Davies (text or call 303 895 6125 or email lyn_davies@dpsk12.org)

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