Duluth Denfeld Zenith City Debate Tournament

2020 Welcome to the Duluth Denfeld Zenith City Debate Tournament

On behalf of Duluth Debate and the Denfeld High School Administration we welcome you to this year’s Zenith Debate Tournament.

Contact Information for Tournament Internet or other Issues:TBA

The history and tradition of this Debate Tournament:

Denfeld was one of the earliest NFL (now NSDA) chapter Debate teams, going back to 1941. The Duluth three high schools were strong in debate tradition and success. I was lucky enough to be an Assistant Coach and be mentored by Mr. Tom Stolen, an icon in the debate world from 1970 until his early death at age 58 in 1998.

The Debate programs in Duluth died in 1994 from lack of coaches and then eventually student interest. In 2013 the Denfeld Speech Coaches decided we would like to bring the Debate program back to our school district. The name of our tournament is in tribute to the long standing Zenith City Debate Tournament that Denfeld, led by Coach Stolen, hosted for over 15 years.

We are glad to be back in this virtual world and boost that we have more schools than ever, “travel” to our tournament this year.  We are thrilled to have you all!

Details of our Tournament:

We are offering the following styles of Debate:

Novice, JV or Varsity LD

Novice, JV and Varsity PF

Congress 

*if numbers are an issue we all experience the collapsing of the levels within the style of debate.

Topics: We will use the Sept./October Topics:

LD: Resolved: In a Democracy voting ought to be compulsory

Novice LD in Minnesota we are not using the NSDA Novice topic but are using: Resolved: States ought to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.

PF: Resolved: The United States should enact the Medicare for All Act of 2019.

Fees:

$5.00 for Congress

$12.00 - LD 

$24.00 - PF

Awards:

Medals will be mailed to all winners

Internet Platform:

With the gracious offer by Katie Scholz, DJ Brynteson, Ross Eichele and Zach Prax  we will use the MDTA Jitsi server.

Also a VERY important reminder that it is ESSENTIAL that your students and judges have Tabroom accounts active and linked. They will not be able to compete or judge without one.

Students will need to download Jitsi on their devices. Please ensure they do this before the morning of the tournament so we can get started on time.

General technology tips: https://docs.google.com/document/d/109k3ZVlcjcYyYHezD3MIIfash0-ht1S3toPoD7X7Dgs/edit?usp=sharing

Congress-specific tips: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xbHCBIP2R5UKOMWXg1rNpimZ0ggA-ToLcnyQOGQQgUI/edit?usp=sharing

Student guide to joining online debate rooms: https://classrooms.qmsnavigator.com/learn/students.html

Judge guide to joining online debate rooms: https://classrooms.qmsnavigator.com/learn/judges.html

Please introduce your students to the ombuds program and show them how to access the information on tab to ensure they know how and when to contact the ombuds. It is VERY important that students and judges feel supported and safe in our debate space. We take this very seriously and hope you do too.

We look forward to hosting you digitally this year! -The Duluth Debate Team

Time Schedule:

8:00 am Drops Due

8:15 am Tech check-in for round/session 1 of all events

8:30 am Start of Congress session 1 (Congress session ends 10:45 am)

8:45 am Round 1 LD/PF

10:00 am  Tech check-in for round 2 LD/PF

10:15 am  Round 2 LD/PF

11:00 am  Congress lunch break

11:15 am  LD/PF Lunch break

11:45 am  Tech check-in  Round 3 LD/PF and Congress session 2

12:00 pm  Round 3 LD/PF and start of Congress session 2 (ends at 2:00 pm)

1:45 pm   Tech check-in for Round 4 LD/PF

2:00 pm  Round 4 LD/PF

2:30 pm  Tech check-in Congress finals and Consolation

2:45 pm  Congress and Consolation Congress (end 4:45)

3:00 pm  Tech check-in for round 5 LD/PF

3:15 pm  Round 5 LD/PF