Greetings All Speech Coaches, 

 

We are pleased to invite you and your speech team to the Stanley Clark School Speech Tournament for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students on Saturday, October 28, 2023 to be held at the Stanley Clark School. 

 

ENTRIES:  Each participating school is invited to enter a team of up to 40 entries (the SpeechWire program will award the top 35 entries for sweeps) with no more than 8 per event.  Those students entered in the category of Discussion and Debate may not double because of the time constraints, and Extemp may not double in Radio and vice versa due to prep; all other students may double in events.  No student may participate in more than two events  No speaker may enter both duo events. 

 

JUDGES:  Please provide one judge for every five entries.  The judge may be a coach, parent, teacher or other adult, or a varsity high school student who has participated in competitive speech events during his or her high school career and has earned a minimum of 150 NFL points.  If you are unable to provide us with the necessary judges, please inform us with your pre-registration form. 

 

RADIO BROADCASTING - all competitors need to be prepared to write a 1 minute commercial using a 30 minute prep period for round one; read from a provided 1 minute editorial for round two; and bring a prepared 2 minute newscast for round three. 

 

IMPROMPTU - all competitors will be expected to be in the room right from the start of the round and stay in the room until all have presented, unless doubling.  NO ONE - PLEASE MAKE SURE YOUR JUDGES KNOW THIS - IS TO SIT IN THE HALLWAY WHILE A COMPETITOR SPEAKS.  Round one will be a word, round two will be a quote, and round three will be a current event. 

 

DISCUSSION TOPIC (October 28, 2023): 

1.  Should artificial intelligence be used to assist and enhance the learning experience in schools? 

2.  Are health tracking apps and devices, like fitness trackers and calorie counters, more beneficial or harmful for users’ overall well-being? 

3.  Should video game developers be required to make their games more accessible to players with disabilities? 

 

DISCUSSION RULES: 

1. The students will be expected to cover the first question in round one, the second question in round two, and the third question in round three. 

2. Remember that students may only use one page, front and back, in outline format (not paragraph format) for notes at tournaments. 

3.  With the new topic format, a student may have one page, front and back, outline for EACH OF THE THREE questions. 

 

EXTEMP NEW RULES: 

1.  SCS will provide a number corresponding to an article -- which will be a decent length to provide the students enough information to write their speech or a couple of articles will be provided -- and a question. 

2. Students will draw a number to receive the appropriate article(s).  Students will have this article as their source. 

3. Internet usage for prep is allowed. 

4. Questions will be domestic or foreign in nature. 

5. The same speech will be used all three rounds. 

 

In general follow the Middle Schools rules from ISSDA that will be published soon.  For example, the new Debate format is Lincoln - Douglas. 

 

AWARDS - Double ribbons will be awarded to the top eight finishers in each event.  Team trophies will be awarded to the top 4 schools in the large division and the top 3 in the small division.  SCS will not accept a team trophy. 

 

FOOD - We will be providing food from the start of registration through the end of the tournament.  We would appreciate it if you would ask your students and judges to purchase food at the tournament because it is one way for us to purchase the trophies and ribbons, as well as the SpeechWire program. 

 

REGISTER - Please register using SpeechWire no later than noon, on Monday, October 23.  You may make changes to your entry on your own until this date.  After this date, you will need to contact Deborah at (574) 287-1204.  Please also register your judges and block them from event(s) their son and/or daughter competes in. 

 

IMPORTANT MORNING OF TOURNAMENT MUST DO -- On the day of the tournament, coaches will need to call or text Ashley Coker (765) 729-3936 between 7:00 - 7:15 a.m. EST to confirm all entries or tell us of any drops.  This allows time to create the schematics before you arrive.  Teams are asked to arrive no later than 8:30 a.m. on the morning of October 28.  There will be a judges' meeting at 9:00 a.m.  Extemp Draw/Prep and Radio Commercial Prep will begin at 9:00 a.m., but competitors need to be in the prep room by 8:55 a.m. for prep to start on time.  The first round of competition for all events will begin at 9:30 a.m. with each round lasting one hour.  Debate will run Round 1-9:30 to 10:00, Round 2- 10:15 to 10:45, Round 3-11:00 to 11:30, Round 4-11:45 to 12:15. Our goal is to have awards started no later than 1:15 p.m. and everyone on the road by 2:00 p.m. 

 

We hope to that your school will be able to participate on October 28.  If you should have any questions or require further information, please contact Deborah Girasek-Chudzynski at either (574) 291-4200 (school), (574) 287-1204 (cell), or email deborahg@stanleyclark.org. 

 

 

See you soon, 

 

Deborah Girasek-Chudzynski 

(vr)