2022 WHS Mustang Middle School TOURNAMENT!

Schedule has been updated in TABROOM. 

MARCH 5, 2022

#SAVETHEDATE

Westfield High School is excited to announce its third annual MIDDLE SCHOOL Speech and Debate tournament on March 5, 2022!

Westfield High School

16713 Ella Blvd.

Houston, TX 77090

GREETINGS!!!

We will offer all traditional MIDDLE SCHOOL NSDA events IN-PERSON!  We will be offering NSDA qualifying events including STORYTELLING and PUBLIC FORUM. Please join us in OUR RETURN to hosting and rebuilding our program in the speech and debate world. Starting is hard work but we are motivated to offer another great tournament experience!

COVID-19 protocols are posted on the “COVID-19 Protocols” page in accordance with the COVID-19 policies and procedures of Spring ISD.

TOPICS are listed on the Information page. UPDATES are being posted weekly because we are still building the website. Please continue to check back often.

We are thrilled you have chosen to join us for your competition SATURDAY! We will strive to do our best for the benefit of all students and coaches.

We will have ribbons, trophies, great food, and maybe even themed ambiance! POSITIVE ENERGY ALL AROUND! We know that this may be one of the first in person tournament experiences for many of your team members like my newbies, we want to show them what makes debate tournaments so special.

Many of our judges will be members of the community and seasoned high school debate team volunteers from across the city. The volunteer judges we recruit are provided with a training course the week before the tournament. We do charge a flat fee per school judging fee that we use to pay our qualified contract judges that will officiate debate and qualifying rounds in accordance with the national guidelines.

Contract judges will be used for advancing rounds of debate. Public Forum judges will be lay judges. It is not planned to ask any coaches to judge but as a last resort in some cases, we may need to use them for emergency purposes. We want coaches to be available to their students!!!

Fees will be set as of Monday, February 28 at 5:00 pm. Drops after this time will just require the registered entry fee without any additional credit. Please email me with any changes after Tuesday, March 1st. If you have any questions text me on my cell phone or email me.

Schools dropping the day of competition will be billed the full invoice amount.

PLEASE make checks payable to:

WESTFIELD HIGH SCHOOL

SPEECH & DEBATE PROGRAM

 16713 ELLA BLVD

HOUSTON, TX 77090

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to LaMonde Howard at lhowar1@springisd.org or 832-308-0038 cell phone (Google Voice) or 281-570-8435 cell phone.

Until We Meet,

LaMonde Howard

Director of Speech and Debate – Westfield High School

HOUSEKEEPING & COVID-19

Brackets: We do not plan to break brackets in debate.

Cross Entries: There are no cross entries for LD, PF, or Congressional Debate. Cross entries are capped at 2 events in A, B and C with the updated sectioning.

Independent Entries: All entries must be sanctioned by their school and have supervision by a chaperone who is an employee of the school or school district.  Employee chaperones must be either in the waiting room for coaches or judging a round at all times. Parents or other adults associated with students participating in the tournament do not satisfy this requirement. 

Judging: Your school must have a coach/sponsor/judge available for all tournament times/rounds to provide support for the tournament and judge as needed and required as noted in the registration in Tabroom is set.

COVID-19 Protocols:

Mask Policy: https://www.springisd.org/covid19

We want everyone safe and request that participants wear their masks during the tournament. Competitors are allowed to remove their masks while speaking in their competitions.

Arrival: Buses will drop off students in the FRONT of the school off ELLA BLVD. Students will enter directly into the cafeteria. Buses will park in the NORTH parking lot.

Cafeteria Seating: Schools will seat themselves upon arrival at the direction of their head coach. Students are encouraged to socially distance and not encroach on other schools within the cafeteria throughout the tournament. There is limited outdoor seating available for those who would prefer that option.

Concessions: Concessions will be provided for students in a designated concession stand area located just outside of the cafeteria. Students may also elect to purchase individually served food from any of our vendors. Vendors will be announced as they are confirmed.

Social Distancing: Throughout the tournament, competitors are encouraged to social distance themselves from other competitors. This includes, but is not limited to, before rounds, during rounds, and congregating in the cafeteria between rounds.

For the purposes of social distancing, tournament administration is okay with competitors sitting along the “Disco” hallway or main hallway adjacent to the cafeteria to prep in between rounds as opposed to sitting in the cafeteria. These areas will be clearly marked. However, competitors should not be outside of the cafeteria or main hallway unless competing.

Contact Tracing: It is the obligation of a participating school’s HEAD COACH to inform the tournament host if a participating coach, judge or student tests positive for COVID-19 within CDC recommended guidelines for exposure timeline. The tournament host will notify other coaches within the event(s) of any possible exposure via email.

Deadlines

-Entry Deadline is Monday, February 14, 2022 at 5:00PM.

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Congress Legislation   

The docket will consist of the following items from the Texas Forensic Association Spring 2022 docket.

https://www.txfa.org/documents/2021-22/SpringDocket2022.pdf

To maximize the time spent debating, items must be debated in this order:

Prelims: 6, 18, 20, 12, 29

Finals: 14, 27, 10, 4, 26

Public Forum - Resolved: On balance, Turkey’s membership is beneficial to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Lincoln-Douglas - Resolved: The appropriation of outer space by private entities is unjust.