IT'S OUR TENTH TOURNAMENT!

* Please remember that our state organization, the WIAA, prohibits independent entries... thank you!

The Mount Vernon Invitational

Mount Vernon High School

1075 Fulton Street

Mount Vernon, WA 98274

Coach Kelley Kirkpatrick * kkirkpatrick@mvsd320.org

The Mount Vernon High School Debate Team cordially invites you to attend the MV Invitational on January 16- 17, 2026.

We are pleased to offer Lincoln-Douglas, Congress, Public Forum, Policy, and Worlds School Debate. Additionally, we will be offering the following speech events: Original Oratory, Informative, Extemporaneous Speaking, Impromptu, Humorous Interpretation, Dramatic Interpretation, Program of Oral Interpretation, Duo Interpretation, Spoken Word Poetry, and SPAR!

We are a NIETOC bid tournament—please come and win some bids!

We are also a TOC bid tournament in Public Forum (semis), LD (semis), Policy Congress, & WORLDS…. Come win these bids, too!

For Policy and Worlds, we will be offering a hybrid-style tournament. Please join us at our school or virtually from your home state, whatever best suits your needs. (Our goal is to bring a competitive debate experience to WA state so we do hope that some of you will come here to experience our hospitality… we promise to take good care of you.) These rounds will use our team zoom room so that spectators can watch and learn from some of the best (that means you!)

Registrations are due by January 10, 2026... unless we run out of space first! Please register as early as possible.

If there is snow, all of Western WA shuts down. Really. If this happens and prevents teams from attending, we will switch to a virtual tournament hosted on NSDA Campus. For our out of state guests, we will do our best to still host you at our school. We will try to make this decision by Wednesday night before the tournament.

Unless otherwise noted, all rules will follow the WSFA Bound for State rules (WA Bound for State Rules); then, the NSDA rules; and then the arbitration of the tabroom staff.

TAB STAFF...

Thank you, well in advance, to the wonderful coaches who will be running this tournament:

LD- Gig Harbor's Chris "Coov" Coovert

PF- Puyallup's Perfect in Purple Sarah Sherry

Worlds- TBD

Policy- The Bodacious Brian Manuel & Overlake's Robin Montieth

Congress- Marvelous Meykia Mittag from Mount Vernon

Tournament Help Desk: Newport's Dr. Megan Troutman

Judge Wrangling & Fine Master: Mount Si's Chelsea Brandon

Security... Mr. Eric Gonzalez

Fire FIghters... Mount Vernon's Grayson Parker & Paul Jurenka (call them when you have an emergency!)

Hospitality... Mount Vernon's Booster Parents Carrie Papendorf, Jessica Knox, & Sarah Copley

DEBATE….

Open and Novice divisions will be offered; if fewer than 6 entries in a division are received, we will collapse.

Congressional Debate: We will offer two 2-hour sessions on Friday evening and Super Congress on Saturday. All sessions will conflict with CX, LD, WSD and PF. We will use the WSFA Spring Legislation Packet. The docket will be randomly picked from this packet and published on tabroom.com on January 1, 2026.

Policy Debate: We will offer Open division and use the 2025-2026 NSDA Policy Topic. Rounds will follow the 8-3-5 format with 8 minutes of prep time per team.

These rounds will be hybrid-style. Zoom will be used to facilitate these rounds. While our hope is that many of you will join us in person to get the coveted TOC bid, we have had many teams reach out to us asking us to be online—so, we are going to give it a try this year!

Lincoln Douglas: We will offer Novice and Open divisions and use the NSDA January/February LD Topic. Rounds will follow the 6-3-7-3-4-6-3 format and have 4 minutes of prep time per competitor. If less than 6 teams enter either division, we will collapse.

Public Forum: We will offer Novice and Open divisions and use the NSDA January PF Topic. Rounds will follow standard PF time format with 3 minutes of prep time per team. If less than 6 teams enter either division, we will collapse.

Worlds School Debate: We will offer one division using the NSDA format. Prepared motions will be...

This House believes that charter schools have done more harm than good to the education system.

(Info Slide: A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autonomy for accountability, that it is freed from the rules but accountable for results.)

This House believes that the African Union should prioritize strengthening regional alliances as opposed to continental unification.

(Info Slide: Regional alliances refer to cooperative blocs among nearby African nations (such as ECOWAS, SADC, or the East African Community) that coordinate on security, trade, and political issues within a specific sub-region. Continental unification refers to broader, Africa-wide integration efforts (similar to the structure of the EU) that aim to centralize political decision-making, harmonize institutions, or move toward continent-wide economic or political union. )

INDIVIDUAL EVENTS….

Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Interpretive Reading, Duo Interpretation, Original Oratory, Expository, Impromptu, and Extemporaneous Speaking will follow all WSFA rules.

In addition, we will offer the following extra events:

SPAR: Format will be 2 minute constructive speeches, followed by 2 minutes of cross examination, followed by 1 minute rebuttals. Topics will be a variety of abstract ideas, current events, and pop culture questions. Top 2 SPAR Finalists will be asked to SPAR during the awards assembly.

SPOKEN WORD POETRY: Original work performed by the author; not to exceed 5 minutes. Material may be presented from memory.

SCHEDULE…

(This schedule may be updated closer to the event.)

(LD and PF are flighted.)

Friday, January 16, 2026

2:30pm… Registration

3:30pm… Round 1- Policy, PuFo, LD, WSD (impromptu)

4:00pm… Session 1- Congress

5:30pm… Round 2- Policy, PuFo, LD, WSD (prepared)

6:30pm… Session 2- Congress

7:30pm… Round 3- Policy, PuFo, LD, WSD (prepared)

Saturday, January 17, 2026

7:45am… Round 1- Extemp Draw

8:00am… Round 1- Speech

9:30am… Round 4- Policy, PuFo, LD, WSD (impromptu); Session 1 Super Congress

11:15am… Round 2- Extemp Draw

11:30am… Round 2- Speech

11:45am... Debate in College Session

1:00pm… Round 5- Policy, PuFo, LD, WSD (prepared); Session 2 Super Congress

2:45pm… Round 3- Extemp Draw

3:00pm… Round 3- Speech

4:00pm… Quarterfinals for LD, PuFo; Semifinals for Policy and

WSD (if needed)

5:00pm… Semifinals for Speech (if needed)

6:00pm… Semifinals for LD, PuFo; Finals for Policy & WSD (if

needed)

7:00pm… Finals for LD, PuFo, & Speech (if needed; double

entered students will be facilitated.)

8:00pm… General Awards Assembly Begins

JUDGING…

Our team goal is to provide exceptionally qualified judging for this tournament. If you know of a judge who would be good to hire, please contact the tournament director.

Please meet the following judging requirements to avoid students being dropped at registration:

1 judge for every 2 Policy/LD/WSD entries

1 judge for every 3 Public Forum entries

1 judge for every 5 Individual Event entries

Open competitors may judge Novice division in all events. Student judges will not cover open entry obligations. Please bring appropriate judging or we will have to drop entries beginning with the most senior members of the team.

Please have judges complete NSDA judge training. You can find the training here– NSDA Judge Accreditation

A fine of $100 will be applied if a judge fails to pick up a ballot in a timely manner. Please don’t let this happen.

FOOD….

We will offer a full concession both days of the tournament. Please check back for more details as the event approaches. On Saturday, we will once again have our Baked Potato Bar, featuring produce grown right here in Skagit Valley!

For coaches and judges, we will have light snacks and dinner available on Friday. On Saturday, we will provide light snacks, lunch, and dinner.

We promise to take good care of you while you are with us!

AWARDS…

Awards will be given for the top three in each division; if an event is collapsed, we will recognize the top novice speaker.

Top Speaker Awards will be given to the best debater in each division.

Additionally, each year our team recognizes a member of the debate community that excels in ways that may not be rewarded on debate ballots with our Bulldog Award. To nominate a student, coach, or judge, please write a letter that includes specific examples of your nominee’s impact on the debate community and send it to kkirkpatrick@mvsd320.org by January 12th, 2026.

FEES…

School Fee $50

Lincoln-Douglas and Congress Entries $20

Policy and Public Forum Entries $30

Worlds $30

Individual Events $10

Please provide a check, cash, or Purchase Order at registration. If you would like to pay by credit card, please contact our wonderful ASB Bookkeeper Cheri Duncan at (360)428-6174 and she will help you with the transaction.

PARKING…

Ample parking is available both days of the tournament in the north lot, near the cafeteria.

TOURNAMENT HOTEL....

Our tournament hotel will be the La Quinta by Wyndham in Burlington at 1670 S Burlington Blvd, Burlington, WA. Please call Manager Kevin McEntee at (360)205-9205 if you need any help with reservations. We look forward to seeing you!

QUESTIONS…

Please contact Coach Kelley Kirkpatrick at kkirkpatrick@mvsd320.org.