The Rushmore Challenge

Harrisburg High School

Thursday and Friday, February 12 & 13, 2015

The Harrisburg High School Chapter of the National Speech and Debate Association would like to invite you to the Rushmore Challenge Debate and IE Festival at Harrisburg High School on Thursday and Friday, February 12 & 13, 2015.  We will offer a relaxed atmosphere with good natured competition between students, schools, and our NFL districts.

The following information on events, divisions, fees, judges, schedules, and awards is probably not complete – please ask if you have questions and I will clarify!

DEBATE

Policy Debate – Varsity and Novice – Three rounds of competition for Varsity on Thursday evening, followed by three rounds of competition for both divisions on Friday.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate – Varsity and Novice – Four rounds of competition

Public Forum Debate – Varsity and Novice – Four rounds of competition

• Please provide one judge for every 2 entries or fraction thereof.
• Adults must judge varsity events; competent varsity may judge novice divisions.
• There will be no final rounds in any division.
• All topics will be the current NFL topic.
• Novice divisions are for competitors who have not debated prior to Nov 1, 2014.
• Laptops will be allowed in debate rounds for purposes of flowing and files.
• Internet use will not be allowed
• Novice debate will follow SDFCA topic limits and any other current year limitations
• All events will follow NFL rules regarding speech times and prep time. 
• Third round policy will be flip for sides.
• Novice Policy is for 2-person teams.
• Entry limits… nah, but you need to bring judges to cover.

SPEECH

Humorous, Duo, and Dramatic Interpretation

Domestic, Foreign, and Novice Extemporaneous Speaking

Varsity and Novice Original Oratory

• Please provide one judge for every 5 entries or fraction thereof.
• Adults must judge varsity; competent varsity may judge NOO and NExt if in a pinch.
• There will be three rounds of speech events, no finals.
• All events should be memorized.  NFL rules for all events.
• NExt will use topics drawn from D Ex and F Ex.  Seven minutes maximum speech time; 30 minutes prep time.
• Interp and Oratory have a 10-minute time limit.
• Entry limits, nah, work with me to coordinate judges.

REGISTRATION

We will be using the tabroom.com website for registration this year.  If you have questions,   please contact me via email: kip.mckee@k12.sd.us  I can also be reached on our school phone at 605-743-2567 ext 6164 or on my cell phone 605-359-3435.  If you really need to reach me and nothing else has worked please contact me at home 605-978-0358.  ENTRIES ARE DUE MONDAY, FEB 9, at 5:00 pm.

FEES

Entry fees are $10 for duo interp and team debate entries, $5 for LD debate and speech entries. 

Hired judge fees are $60 for PF and Speech.

Make checks to Harrisburg High School.

JUDGES

We will have a few judges available for hire for speech and public forum debate.  Please try to cover your slots and let us know if you have any extra judges for any division that another school may hire.  We will do our best to accommodate any and all entries.

SCHEDULE

THURSDAY, February 12

4:00 Check in at HHS for Varsity Policy teams competing today

4:30 Round 1 V POL

6:00 Round 2 V POL

7:30 Round 3 V POL

FRIDAY, February 13

All Speech events will take place at Harrisburg HS.

8:45 – 9:15  Registration in the Auditorium

9:15     General Meeting

9:30     Extemp Draw Round I in Auditorium

10:00   Round 1 Speech Events

11:00   Extemp Draw Round II

11:30   Round 2 Speech Events

12:30   Extemp Draw Round III

1:00     Round 3 Speech Events

Policy and LD Rounds at HS; PF may move to Harrisburg SMS.

2:15     Policy Round 1

3:45     Policy Round 2

5:15     Policy Round 3

2:15     LD Round 1

3:15     LD Round 2

4:15     LD Round 3

5:15     LD Round 4

2:30     PF Round 1

3:30     PF Round 2

4:30     PF Round 3

5:30     PF Round 4

7:05     AWARDS in HHS Auditorium

*** Concessions will be available throughout the day at the HS.

AWARDS

The top six finishers in each debate and speech events will receive an award.

The top three Class AA and top two Class A schools will receive a sweepstakes trophy.

The Rushmore Cup will be “presented” to the NFL district earning more points throughout the tournament as described in the following sweepstakes section.

Determination of sweepstakes awards:

For both classes, one entry per school counts toward the sweepstakes total.

For Class AA, the top entry receives 15 points, the second receives 10, and the third receives 5.  Class A will follow the same pattern.  Sweepstakes points will be awarded regardless of overall placing in an event.

The most sweepstakes points a Class AA and Class A school can receive is 210 points.

The same philosophy will hold true in determining the winner of the Rushmore Cup.  The top three finishers in an event also receive 15, 10, and 5 points, respectively, but instead of being awarded to the school they are awarded to the district.  Once again, a school may only count one entry in the district sweepstakes contest.

Why is it called the Rushmore Challenge?

The Rushmore Challenge provides a unique format for competition between the Rushmore NFL district and the Northern South Dakota NFL district.  With the upcoming NFL district tournaments and subsequent state tournament, the Rushmore Challenge is the last time many schools – and seniors – will have the chance to compete against each other.  Thus all debate and speech events will work to foster competition between the respective districts as much as feasible, based on the entries in each event.

DIRECTIONS

The latest Harrisburg HS is on Lincoln County Road 110, or 1300 West Willow Street.  The easiest way to find it if you are traveling from I-29 is to exit at mile marker 71.  Go east 4.5 miles and you will see the HS on the north side of the road.  Look for the school attached to the athletic complex.

If you are traveling from Sioux Falls, please take Minnesota or Cliff Avenue south three miles from 85^th street.  The school is located between Minnesota Ave and Cliff Ave

If you have teams that will be competing at the Middle School, it is located at 600 S Cliff Avenue.    That is the same avenue that comes from Sioux Falls.  It is approximately ½ mile from the HS.

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.  We look forward to seeing each of you in February at Harrisburg!