Mississippi High School Activities Association

Speech and Debate State Championships

April 28-29, 2023

Tournament Location: Oak Grove High School

All MHSAA Member schools are cordially invited to compete in the State Championships from April 28-29 at Oak Grove High School.

Eligible Schools

Participating schools must be member schools of the Mississippi High Schools Activities Association (MHSAA).

Events

This tournament portion includes three debate events: Public Forum Debate, Policy Debate, and Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The fourth debate event, Congressional Debate, occurred on April 21-22, 2023, at Millsaps College.

The tournament also offers 14 Speech events separated into two flighted lists:

Flight A= Dramatic Interpretation, Duet Acting, Expository Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Original Oratory, Program of Oral Interpretation, Prose Interpretation

Flight B= Declamation, Duo Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, Humorous Interpretation, Informative Speaking, Poetry Interpretation, Storytelling

Topic Areas

The 2023 MHSAA State Championship STORYTELLING topic is Under the Sea- Tales of the least known place on earth.

Extemporaneous Speaking topics are listed below:

Round 1= Economics (US)

Round 2= Foreign Policy (International)

Semifinals= US Hypotheticals- Students will be asked to engage with a hypothetical scenario. (US)

Finals= Big Picture Topics- Students will be asked to engage with big issues with a broad reach. (US and International)

Policy Topic: Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially increase its security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in one or more of the following areas: artificial intelligence, biotechnology, cybersecurity.

Lincoln-Douglas Topic: Resolved: The justices of the Supreme Court of the United States ought to be term-limited.

Public Forum Topic: Resolved: The United States Federal Government should ban the collection of personal data through biometric recognition technology.