Dear Colleagues,

 

The Marian High School Speech Team is hosting their annual Junior High Crusader Invitational Speech Tournament for middle school students on Friday, May 6th, 2022.  This tournament offers 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students the opportunity to present speeches, to learn from the competition, and to explore their speaking and acting abilities.  We hope to see you there!  

 

Please register your entries by 4:00pm on Tuesday, May 3rd. Entries will only be accepted using SpeechWire. 

 

We are very excited to host you and your students! If you have any questions, please email Renee McGill at rmcgill@omahamarian.org.  More information about the tournament is detailed below.  We look forward to seeing you in May!

 

Sincerely,

Renee McGill, Anna Sparwasser, and the Marian Speech Team

 

 

 

AWARDS: Trophies will be presented to first place winners.  Medals will be awarded to other finalists.  Sweepstakes trophies will be awarded to the 1st and 2nd place teams. We will award up to 10th place for events that have over 30 speakers; otherwise, awards will be given to the top 6 finishers. 

 

ENTRIES AND ENTRY CAPS: Each event is capped at 6 entries per school. If you have more than 6 entries for an event, your entries will be put on a waitlist via SpeechWire and we will try to accommodate them as space allows. 

 

--If any event category has less than 7 entries total for the tournament, we will drop that event category. 

--Competitors may double enter; no triple entries. Extemp speakers will have a difficult time being double entered due to the time slots for that event.  

 

JUDGES: PLEASE BRING 1 QUALIFIED JUDGE FOR EVERY FIVE ENTRIES. Judges may be qualified varsity members from high school teams, but please make sure you train them on how to judge every event and stress the importance of lots of positive feedback and constructive criticism. Many high school coaches would be happy to help you fill judging requirements with their students. If you need contact information for coaches please email Renee. Coaches are always welcome to judge. If you use parent judges, please make sure they are trained on the norms of the event and understand how to judge. You are welcome to bring extra judges if you have any. If you have a large entry, I may not be able to logistically use your judges. I will notify you prior to the contest date if all judges are not needed.

 

EXTEMP PREP: We will be allowing computers in extemp prep per the high school NSAA rules. We will also allow open internet. 

 

ONLINE BALLOTS: We will be hosting a paperless tournament with online ballots. All judges must have an iPad or laptop of their own to judge from. Students will receive their sectioning via text and on SpeechWire. 

 

MEAL TICKETS & CONCESSIONS: As in past years, each student can pay $5 to receive a meal ticket for dinner. Each dinner includes one slice of pizza (choice of pepperoni, hamburger, or cheese), salad, dessert, and drink. Please pre-order meals using SpeechWire. All judges and coaches will receive a complimentary dinner ticket as a thank you for attending and working hard so that students may have this educational opportunity. Please include the number of complimentary meals for coaches and judges that you'll need with your pre-order on SpeechWire.  We will also have additional concessions (chips, granola bars, etc.) available throughout the tournament for students to purchase.

 

--Dinner tickets will be distributed at Registration.

 

PARENTS: We encourage parents to view their children. There will be a speech team member with the schedule and a list of codes in the entrance area so that each parent can find out where and when their child is speaking. 

 

If you have any questions on registration or about the tournament, please feel free to contact me at rmcgill@omahamarian.org

 

INFORMATION ON EVENTS: 

 

Extemporaneous:  Topics will cover both foreign and domestic issues from the news since January 2022.  Thirty minute prep time. One 4X6 note card optional.  TIME LIMIT: MAX 5 MINUTES. Open internet access 

 

Original Oratory: Must be an original work of the student to inspire, persuade, and/or convince. Limit of 150 quoted words.  Script is optional.  TIME LIMIT: MAX 8 MINUTES.

 

Informative Speaking: Visual aids allowed but not required. TIME LIMIT: MAX 8 MINUTES.

 

Impromptu:  Draw three topics, speak on one.  Five minute prep time.  TIME LIMIT: MAX 4 MINUTES.

 

Dramatic Interpretation:  A serious interpretation of an original cutting from prose or a play.  Script is optional.  TIME LIMIT: MAX 8 MINUTES.

 

Humorous Interpretation:  A humorous interpretation of an original cutting from prose or a play.  Script is optional.  TIME LIMIT: MAX 8 MINUTES.

 

Poetry:  A serious or humorous interpretation of one or more poems.  If more than one poem is used, they must be based on either a theme or a single author.  Script is required.  TIME LIMIT: MAX 8 MINUTES.

 

Duet Acting:  An original cutting from a humorous or serious play, acted out by two individuals.  Touching and use of a table and two chairs allowed.  Script is optional.  TIME LIMIT: MAX 10 MINUTES. You will notice we will again run two sections of duet acting - one labeled humorous and the other dramatic. Please don't pay attention to those labels and divide your duet teams equally among the two during registration. For example, if you have 4 duets coming to the tournament - then register 2 in dramatic duet and 2 in humorous REGARDLESS of their piece.  During the tournament, these divisions will be labeled as "duet acting white" and "duet acting blue" so, again, the dramatic or comedic nature of the piece is irrelevant; just split your entry evenly between the two duet categories.

 

Declamation Speaking: A speech that was not written by the student. It could be a graduation address, eulogy, political speech or many others. Should include introductory remarks. TIME LIMIT: MAX 8 MINUTES. 

 

Oral Interpretation of Drama: 3 - 5 students; TIME LIMIT: 15 MINUTES

 

Entry Fees

Individual Event entry: $8.00 per entry

Entries will only be accepted through Speechwire.com.

 

Judges

We request that all judges be competent and experienced.

One judge per every five Individual Event entries.

$25.00 for each uncovered judge.

 

Payment

Make checks payable to "Marian High School"

attn. Renee McGill; 7400 Military Ave; Omaha, NE  68134

 

Schedule:

3:30 - Registration 

3:45 - General Meeting (cafeteria); Extemp Draw for Round 1 (Library)

4:00 - Round 1 

5:00 - Extemp Draw for Round 2 (Library)

5:30 - Round 2 

6:15 - Extemp Draw for Round 3 (Library)

7:00 - Round 3 

**Dinner will be served after Round 3 in the Cafeteria; bring your meal ticket!

***Awards will begin ASAP in the East Gym