Welcome back to Speech and Debate!  This is SEAST #1 registration. Tournament is for elementary schools designated in the South area.  Tournament date is Thursday September 25th, 2025.

LOCATION:  Western High School, 1200 SW 136th Avenue, Davie, FL  33325 (new location)

REGISTRATION

Registration for NEW ENTRIES opens Wednesday September 10th, 2025, and closes on Wednesday September 17th, 2025, at 5 pm. Changes (drops or name changes) can be made until 12 pm tournament day. If you have changes after that, please email me at Jacqueline.Singletary@Browardschools.com with your school’s name, student who is dropping, and their event, or at check in at tournament.

ENTRY CAPS:

Remember, each school may only initially enter TEN students in all events.  Any entries over that number will go on the waitlist, which will be cleared pending available space at Western High School and sufficient judge numbers.  No double or cross entries are allowed.

BUSES AND PIZZA

Bus Requests confirmations have been emailed out. Bus assignments will be sent in an email confirmation closer to tournament date. 

We strongly advise that you pre-order pizza for your team.  Whole pies with 8 slices are $16 each and includes 4 bottles of water with each pie order.  PIZZA PREORDER SALES OPENS ON SPEECHWIRE ON WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH AND CLOSES ON THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 18, 2025 AT 5PM. The host school will have some pizza and additional concession items for sales throughout the tournament (CASH ONLY). Please no outside purchased food or food deliveries to the school.

-Add pre-ordered pizza pies in Speechwire by clicking “Tournament home” on the left column, then click “Update your meal order” in the middle of the screen.

-Print your final invoice to request a check from your school under “Current Invoice” on the left column of Speechwire. Make checks payable to “Western High School Debate”.

TOURNAMENT DAY PROCEDURES

Arrival of students for the tournament is between 1:15 pm  and 1:45 pm. Your judges who are not riding on the bus should arrive between 1:15 pm and 1:45 pm, no earlier than 1 pm to be able to judge in Round 1. Judges arriving after the start of Round 1 will be Prioritized in Round 2.  Once we have enough judges checked in, we can start. 

Coaches need to check in their team by reviewing and returning their Entry Confirmation at the check in table. If coaches are listed as a judge, they must also check in with the Judge's check-in in the Media Center.

Please have your Field Trip Forms with you for all students attending the tournament. If your students has a medical condition requiring special care or medication, please advise the District Staff know so we can be prepared if there is an incident. 

Remember that students are to always remain in their designated areas with an adult chaperone. Everyone must wear their school ids.

Upon arrival, you will be escorted to the cafeteria.  Tables will be labels for each school.  You will be able to pick up your pre-ordered pizzas, and the concession stand will be open for CASH ONLY purchases.

Check in with Debate Broward Staff upon your arrival.  Please let us know if you have any last drops and changes at that time.

IMPORTANT - Everyone will stay in the cafeteria until Western High School allows us to move to the event rooms.  Please keep all students in the cafeteria until rounds start (hopefully around 3:00 PM)

Coaches will be responsible for telling the students the room each student will compete in, and for directing their students to assigned room, by reviewing the Schematic tab in Speechwire.  There will also be a QR Code with a link to this information on the tables in the cafeteria.  A list will pop up when each round is ready to go.

If you are a coach and are judging, please let us know at check-in. Please stay with your students in the cafeteria and check Speechwire for judging assignments. Please dismiss your students to go to their rounds before you head to your judging assignment. Refresh Speechwire Schematic for updates.

CHAPERONES AND JUDGES

•            Standard field trip procedures of 1 adult chaperone to every 10 students. 

•            Teachers/Coaches please chaperone your students.  At least one chaperone must always be with the students in the cafeteria. Chaperones may double as judges.

•            JUDGES: Judges are required for any tournament to run, and schools are required to cover their entries. (1 judge covers 2 debate entries, or 1 judge covers any combination of 10 speech/congress entries.) Please make sure you do not bring more students than you have judges to cover. Reach out to competitors' family members, teachers, and other colleagues for help. Coaches can judge too.

PLEASE KEEP YOUR AREA IN THE CAFETERIA CLEAN AT ALL TIMES.  GARBAGE CANS AND BAGS ARE PLACED AROUND THE ROOM. HAVE YOUR STUDENTS CLEAN UP AFTER THEMSELVES.

JUDGES INSTRUCTIONS

•            Please have your judges ride the bus with you as there is limited parking at Western HS.  If your judge is not riding on the school bus with you, arrival time should be between 1:15 pm and 1:30 pm, no earlier than 1 pm, as students are transitioning from lunch.  Should your judges arrive after 1:45 pm, security may not allow them on campus until after school dismisses between 2:30 pm and 3:00 pm. Please ensure that your judges arrive on time or you may forfeit the first round.  Please use the Teacher’s Parking Lot in front of the school.  Judges will check in at the school’s Single Point entry and will need identification. 

•            Everyone should be wearing their IDs – Coaches, Judges and Students.  If you have not received your school’s IDs, go to the front office for a temporary pass.  Adults who check in at your school may wear the pass issued there.

•            All judges will report to the judges' lounge once they clear security. High School student volunteers will be there to direct you.

•            All adult judges should have at a least level one clearance with the district.  Have parents/adults use the link to register as a volunteer - https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/NDgyMDplbi1VUw==    or go to the Get Involved with BCPS / Volunteer Services website.

•            In order to have a smoother start to the tournament, it is a huge help for all judges to have logged into live.speechwire.com prior to coming to the tournament. If for whatever reason they cannot initially log in, click "forgot password" but use the same email you entered.

•            ELECTRONIC DEVICE: All ballots are electronic, so judges will need to bring a working, charged tablet, laptop or smart phone (preferably a device with a keyboard) to complete the eballots.

DURING ROUNDS:

•            Click "Start Round" after they confirm the correct competitors are in the room with them.

•            Type comments while students are speaking, which will expedite the tournament. Comments are open for editing overnight.

•            -Save/submit ranks, points, and decisions when the round is finished. ***We cannot move on to the next round or close the tournament until all ballots are submitted. You will have access to edit the comments/feedback, but we need the scores, ranks, and decisions asap.

•            Speechwire Tutorial for Judges: https://youtu.be/9VmiTHH2bJ0

•            Judge training videos: https://www.speechanddebate.org/judge-training/ and manateedistrict.org

EVENTS / TOPICS

Topics – Public Forum Topic for the First semester is:

Resolved: In the United States, the benefits of the use of generative artificial intelligence in education outweigh the harms. 

Congress Topics:

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2025 LEGISLATION

·       A Bill to Mandate AI Watermarks

·       A Resolution to Amend the Constitution to Establish the Right to Healthcare

Piece Registration:  Interpretation (HI/DI, DUO), Declamation (DEC) and Original Oratory (OO)

Once you have updated your entries, go to the left column on Speechwire called “Piece Registration”. For HI/DI, DUO and/or DEC entry, you are required to include the title, the author and the ISBN number. If the ISBN number is not available (movies, plays, etc.) use the URL from the website of the selection. For OO, please enter the title of the piece.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Good luck and see you at the tournament! 

 

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