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Westfield Middle School Rock Talk Tournament

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General information

This information is from a tournament in a past season!

This is a Middle School tournament in Indiana.

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Westfield Middle School Rock Talk Tournament

November 12, 2022

8:00 am - 1:45 pm

 

Greetings Coaches and Competitors,

 

You are invited to Westfield Middle School’s Rock Talk Tournament on November 12, 2022. We will be competing in person at 345 W. Hoover St, Westfield, IN 46074 from 8:00 am to 1:45 pm.

 

AWARDS - Double ribbons will be awarded to the top eight places in each event (16 entries). Team trophies will be awarded to the top three schools in both large and small divisions for Team Sweepstakes. WMS will not participate in Team Sweepstakes.

 

CATEGORIES - We will be offering all 13 Indiana Middle School Speech & Debate Events, including IN MS Debate format (26-minute rounds).

 

DEBATE - MS Debate Resolution for 2022: 

Humans are primarily driven by self-interest.

 

DISCUSSION - MS Discussion Theme: 

Overall Topic: How can we better understand and improve mental health?

Round 1: How has Covid affected children’s mental health?

Round 2: What role should schools play in supporting students’ mental health?

Round 3: What connections exist between mental health and gun violence in America?

 

DOUBLING - Doubling will be allowed (and encouraged) in all categories with two exceptions. These specific combinations will not be available:

DEBATE + DISCUSSION

BROADCAST + EXTEMP

 

ENTRY DEADLINE, FEES, & CAPS - Entries are due on Wednesday, November 9, at 12:00pm. Each entry is $2 and will offset the costs of ribbons and trophies. Make checks payable to WMS and mail to Christine Shepard, 345 W. Hoover St., Westfield, IN 46074. Each school is limited to 50 entries. Late additions are discouraged but may be permitted on a case-by-case basis. (If costs are prohibitive, please let us know. We want more students competing, not fewer.)

 

DROP DEADLINE - The drop deadline is Saturday, November 12, at 6:00am, after which you will need to text Stephanie directly at 317-374-5858 to make drops. There is a $2 drop fee. 

 

JUDGES - Each school is responsible for bringing one judge for every five entries or fraction thereof (6 entries = 2 judges). Judges need to bring a laptop for scoring. We will score online through SpeechWire (instead of paper ballots).

 

SPEECHWIRE REGISTRATION & ENTRIES - Please remember that in order to enter students and judges in the tournament, you must first collect email addresses from them, set up SpeechWire accounts for them, and remind each of them to activate their accounts. Participants cannot share the same email address. 

 

NSDA POINTS - If you intend to record NSDA points, sync your students' NSDA and SpeechWire accounts prior to the tournament; this allows for auto posting of points--a huge time saver for you!

 

COACHES’ MEETING - There will be a meeting for coaches and judges on Wednesday, November 9 at 4:45pm via Zoom: WMS Rock Talk Coaches’ & Judges' Virtual Meeting 11/9 Link

 

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE - We will start check-ins at 8:00 am. There will be three speech rounds and four debate rounds. 

 

8:00 - 8:20

Team Check-in

Breakfast concessions - donuts

8:30 - 8:50

Judges’ / Coaches’ Meeting in the Media Center

Competitors Meeting in the Cafeteria

8:50 - 9:20

Broadcast Prep & Extemp Prep

9:30 - 10:20

Speech Round 1 (DEB doublers go first)

9:45 - 10:15 Debate Round 1

10:30 - 11:20

Speech Round 2 (DEB doublers go last)

10:45 - 11:15 Debate Round 2

11:30 - 12:20

Speech Round 3 (DEB doublers go last)

11:45 - 12:15 Debate Round 3
  12:15 - 12:45 Debate Round 4

12:30 - 1:10

Lunch, snacks, games, score tabulations

Concessions (pizza, soda, chips)

1:15 - 1:45

Individual Ribbons + Team Sweepstakes in the South Gym

 

HOSPITALITY - Our Westfield S&D families are collaborating to provide some drinks, snacks, and soups for the judges and coaches who attend our tournament. Coffee and some creamer/sugar will be available.

 

GETTING UPDATES - In order to get updates on tournament plans, log into SpeechWire and click "Yes" (or "Maybe") you are attending. If you no longer wish to receive invitations from SpeechWire, then please update your information on the SpeechWire website.

 

QUESTIONS - If you have any questions about this tournament, please contact Christine Shepard and Stephanie Hodge at shepardc@wws.k12.in.us, hodges@wws.k12.in.us

 

 

COACHES

 

Please remind your students to clean up after themselves in their competition rooms and in the cafeteria.

 

Drops/adds/changes need to be reported to Stephanie at 317-374-5858. Please include as much information/detail as possible when texting (student name, coach name, school name, category, etc.). The more information we have, the faster we can make changes.

 

Day-of issues can also be reported to Stephanie at 317-374-5858 or Christine at 317-502-8915. Text is faster, but calls are fine, too.

 

Please prep your judges by sharing the Indiana MS Speech & Debate Rules with them. A brief version of how the rounds work and what to judge on is available at bit.ly/howtomsspeech.

 

 

JUDGES

 

WiFi: Guest_BYOD (no password) or WWS_Devices (password: perseverance).

 

To stay on time, please start rounds within 5 minutes of their start time.

 

If you are missing a competitor, text Stephanie at 317-374-5858. Please include as much information/detail as possible when texting (student name, coach name, school name, category, room number, etc.). The more information we have, the faster we can find out what’s going on and report back to you. If they do not arrive within 5 minutes, go ahead and start without them, but they can still come late. Only record someone as a drop/no-show once you’ve confirmed with Stephanie.

 

Submit all rankings at live.speechwire.com before moving on to the next round. PLEASE include comments for every competitor. These comments can be added during the afternoon break before awards if you don’t have time to submit them before a round ends.

 

Do not deduct points if someone presents with a mask on.



 

 

COMPETITORS

 

You are welcome to wear a mask if you prefer.

 

Be courteous in the hallways - others are performing in classrooms - don’t run or yell.

 

Do not go into the gymnasium area.

 

Clean up after yourself. Don’t leave trash behind. Keep your belongings in a neat pile so you don’t leave anything behind.

 

Be early to your rounds.

 

Wait outside the classroom before your round. Students are not allowed into a classroom without an adult in the room.

 

Thank the judges before you leave each round; they are volunteers.

 

Judges are volunteers. They may be new to judging your event. If you think they may be misjudging or don’t quite know the rules accurately, speak politely to them about it as soon as possible, but remember to be polite. In the end, what the judge in your room says is the final decision for that round, and your being graceful about it will do more for you than being contemptuous (angry). Take it up with your coach after the round ends if you feel something is unresolved.

 

If you don’t know where to go or need to drop, ask an adult (preferably your coach) for help; don’t just skip a round.

 

If you are waiting for a long time for a judge or feel like you are maybe in the wrong place, quickly ask an adult for help (preferably your coach). 

 

Be aware of the many ears around you. Talk kindly about others. If you have something negative to say, keep it to yourself or wait until you get home.

 

Be confident (not arrogant). Your confidence level comes through in your performance and can help you place higher. Judges don’t know what your speech was “supposed” to say, so just keep moving forward if you stumble.

 

Have fun and get to know new people. Compliment competitors when you notice something they have done well. It feels good to be kind to others and to hear compliments. If you continue in S&D next year or in high school, many of these same people will be there with you.

 

 

Manager contact information

Stephanie Hodge
Email address: hodges@wws.k12.in.us
Phone number: 3173745858, 3175028915

Mailing address

345 W Hoover Street
Westfield , IN 46074

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