Dear Colleagues:

Melissa High School’s Speech, Debate & UIL Academic Team invites you to the in-person Winter Classic, Wednesday through Saturday, January17^th-20^th at Melissa High School. This year, we will be offering a unique opportunity for academic coaches! You will be able to get TWO different tests for an incredibly cheap price this year! ALL academic tests will transpire on Saturday. Friday will be JUST debate, and Saturday will be JUST academics and speech events. Please read the information below, which is also located in the invitational PDF located on the right hand side of the screen.

Academic Information Academic Tests:

This year, Melissa High School will be offering TWO sets of academic tests that will be given to students. The ONLY not offered in a “swung” manner is the computer science, computer applications, and spelling. All academic tests will be purchased through a 3^rd party vendor(s) or UIL Set A.

Virtual Events (Wednesday-Friday):

Editorial (UIL Set A)

Feature (UIL Set A)

Headline Writing (UIL Set A)

Copy Editing (UIL Set A)

Ready Writing (UIL Set A)

News Wiring (UIL Set A)

Social Studies Essays (UIL Set A) & (3^rd Party)

Current Events Essays (UIL Set A) & (3^rd Party)

GRADING NOTE: Please give the graders 1-2 weeks to grade the items above, whereby the feedback/results will be sent to the coach.

Virtual Grading Information:

Students will have the exams sent to the coaches, whereby the coaches will be able to administer the tests to the students. Once finished, please email all tests to kbrenner@melissaisd.org and lawrencedimmig@melissaisd.org for grading purposes. These will have around a 2-week window to be graded, so we thank you for your patience in advance.

Set B Information:

Students that wish to participate in 3^rd Party Test of the academic tests will have to go to Melissa High School on Saturday, Janurary 20^th.

Grading Events (Pencil):

Students will be able to complete the written portions of the tests. Please make sure that all students come prepared with a PENCIL for grading purposes. DO NOT come with a pen as that will not translate on the grading components of the test.

Subjective Events (i.e., the Essay) Information:

Students will be able to complete the subjective portions of these tests between Wednesday and Friday of the week. Thus, please make sure that you email the essays in some manner to kbrenner@melissaisd.org and lawrencedimmig@melissaisd.org for grading purposes.

Computer Apps Note:

Computer Applications will ONLY have a single test provided due to the extensive grading of the test. The same is applicable for computer tests occurring on Friday.

Computer Science Note:

The plan for the Melissa High School Hands on Programming contest is to be using HackerRank as our programming and grading environment. Each team needs to bring a laptop that can connect to the internet (some schools being multiple teams this willrequire them to bring a laptop for each team). Prior to attending the Computer Science contest at Melissa High School, it is encouraged that one contestant from each team (again if you have multiple teams one from each team) created an account inHackerRank. Teamswill use this account during the contest.

Academic Judges Fee Note:

This year, because of the strenuous grading, Melissa High School will be including a judging fee for students in the swung events. The judging fee for each school will be 15 dollars.

Academic Schedule (Saturday) Highlighting Note:

Anything highlighted in Yellow is UIL Set A, while anything highlighted in Green is 3^rd Party Tests.

8:00 Computer Applications (3^rd Party)

Current Issues and Events (3^rd Party) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

Ready Writing (3^rd Party) (Offsite Grading – Awards Announced Feb 2)

Number Sense (3^rd Party)

8:15 Math (3^rd Party) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

8:30 Lit Crit (3^rd Party) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

9:30 Calculator (3^rd Party)

News (3^rd Party) (Offsite Grading – Awards Announced Feb 2)

10:00 Current Issues and Events (UIL Set A) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

Calculator (UIL Set A)

10:30 Spelling (3^rd Party)

Science (3^rd Party) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

Accounting (3^rd Party) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

11:30 Accounting (UIL Set A) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

Feature Writing (3^rd Party) (Offsite Grading – Awards Announced Feb 2)

12:30 Science (UIL Set A) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

1:00 Computer Science (3^rd Party)

1:30 Editorial (3^rd Party) (Offsite Grading – Awards Announced Feb 2)

Math (UIL Set A) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

2:30 Social Studies (3^rd Party) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

Headline (3^rd Party) (Offsite Grading – Awards Announced Feb 2)

3:30 Copy Editing (3^rd Party) (Offsite Grading – Awards Announced Feb 2)

4:00 Social Studies (UIL Set A) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

4:45 Number Sense (UIL Set A)

Feature Writing (UIL Set A)

5:45 Lit Crit (UIL Set A) (Scantron – Awards based on Objective Portion Only)

Speech & Debate Schedule Friday DEBATE Events:

On Friday, January 19^th, the following Academic and Speech/Debate events will take place at Melisa High School:

-UIL Lincoln Douglas Debate

-TFA Lincoln Douglas Debate

-Congressional Debate (we will be using the TFA Spring Docket)

Debate Topics Used:

Policy Debate (we will be using the Fiscal Redistribution topic)· Public Forum (we will be using the NSDA January/February topic)

·

Friday DEBATE Schedule: LD, PFD, POLICY (FRIDAY ONLY)

Friday, January 19^th

4:30 PM Round 1

6:30 PM Round 2

8:30 PM Round 3

CONGRESS SCHEDULE (FRIDAY ONLY)

Friday, January 19^th

4:00 PM Congress Prelims

7:00 PM Congress Finals

Saturday SPEECH Schedule:

8:00 AM RD1 PO, PR, DUO, POI

9:00 AM RD1 PER, INF, HI, DI, OO, INFO

10:30 AM RD2 PO, PR, DUO, POI

11:30 AM RD2 HI, DI, OO, INFO

12:00 PM SF INF, PER

1:15 PM SF PO, PR, DUO, POI

2:15PM SF HI, DI, OO, INFO

3:15PM (Finals) PER, INF, PO, PR, DUO, POI

4:00PM (Finals) HI, DI, OO, INFO

Cross-Entering:

****Cross Enter at your own risk!

Speech & Debate Fees Speech & Debate Fees:

Hired Debate Judge: $175

No Show Debate Judge Fee: $200

Hired Speech Judge: $100

No Show Speech Judge Fee: $150

Academic Fees:

Please see tabroom for the fees.

Registration FAQ’s:

Making a Tabroom: For information on how to make a tabroom account check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyTqMwhRJpo

Tabroom Registration: For information on how to register for the tournament after creating an account is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc3pdZi5WXM

Linking your Students: Keep in mind students will need to have their own tabroom account created and linked to the school/institution they attend and an email address attached/linked to their account. Here is a video to help you link your students to their accounts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YNrHUweRPA&feature=youtu.be

Contact Information:

Brenden Dimmig

325-656-6636

lawrencedimmig@melissaisd.org

Kyle Brenner

kbrenner@melissaisd.org

972-658-6389