Hello Coaches, 

You and your team are invited to the Penn High School Debate Tournament to be held on December 3rd 2022. Registration will run from 7:30 - 8:30 a.m., with a judges’ meeting at 8:30, and Rd. 1 starting at 9:00 a.m. Penn High School is in the Eastern Time Zone. The entry deadline is 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 30th. Entries are to be made through Speechwire. Drops and Judge adds will be available until Friday afternoon. 

Policy Debate, Lincoln Douglas Debate, Public Forum Debate, World Schools Debate, and Student Congress Debate will all be offered. There will be a Varsity and a Novice division in Policy, LD, PF and Congress. World Schools will likely only have one division containing debaters of all experience levels, though if entries allow, we will run a novice and varsity division. A novice debater is a student who has never debated competitively prior to the 2022-2023 season. Any previous debate competition experience makes that student a Varsity debater regardless of the event. 

All Events and Divisions will follow ISSDA rules and restrictions. 

 

Topics

Lincoln-Douglas  Nov/Dec topic  - Resolved: The People’s Republic of China ought to prioritize environmental protection over economic growth.

Public Forum Nov/Dec topic - Resolved: The United States’ strategy of Great Power Competition produces more benefits than harms.

Congress - We will use selections from the November/December docket - Bills #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Look in the “files for download” for a copy of the docket. Chambers should attempt to debate 3 bills within each session. 

​Varsity chamber may elect their P.O. 

Please email P.O. nominations for the novice chamber to Jeremy- jstarkweather@phm.k12.in.us

​World Schools - Rounds 2 & 3 Prepared topic: Resolved: This house believes the American Rescue Act failed to achieve its goals.

​Rounds 1 & 4 are impromptu rounds, with a different topic each round.

No electronics allowed for prep or during rounds. Students should write out notes and speeches on paper. They should use printed copies of speeches in prepared rounds. 

Students may use 2 reference books for impromptu rounds.

Students will have 1 hour prep per impromptu round. 

​Policy -  Both Novice and Varsity topic:  Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.

Important Note: ​Novice Policy Topic Restrictions are no longer in place

****Judges****

One judge is required for every 4 debaters or portion thereof. 5 debaters = 2 judges. One Policy or Public Forum team = 2 debaters. Please try to bring judges who can judge all events. We will be in need of debate event judges more than we will need Congress-type judges. Therefore, please make sure that your judges are able and qualified to judge more than just Congress.

 

A limited number of student judges will be allowed if they currently have over 250 NSDA points. They will only be allowed to judge Novice competitions.

 

Ribbons will be provided to the top debate entries in each event. Sweepstakes awards/trophies will be awarded to the Top 5 Teams

 

Pizza (and maybe burritos) will be available for students during lunch. In addition, there will be snacks and drinks available for purchase. There will be a coaches'/judges' lounge with complimentary lunch and snacks available. 

 

Questions? If so, contact Jeremy Starkweather Jstarkweather@phm.k12.in.us, or via my cell phone (574) 370-4758.