PLD Raise Every Voice Invitational

Dear Forensics Family:

Welcome to Paul Laurence Dunbar High School Raise Every Voice Invitational Speech & Debate Tournament. We have been hosting at the University of Kentucky for the past few years so we are excited to welcome you to Paul Laurence Dunbar High School on November 15 th for an amazing competition and the opportunity to support a worthy cause. Homelessness is an issue that affects approximately 3,984 individuals in Kentucky of this population nearly 24,000 school-aged children are housing insecure. According to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, 1 in 14 Kentucky children under age six are currently experiencing homelessness. As we approach the winter months it is increasingly important to find ways to support this population. This year a percentage of our proceeds will be used to support the homeless population in KY. In addition, our team will be collecting items to create survival kits to pass out to individuals in the area. For a list of items we will be accepting please click here. Every donation helps us get a bit closer to helping those in need so thank you for your donations.

PLATFORM

Our tournament will be held in person and be judged electronically using tabroom.com. All competitors and judges will need to have registered Tabroom.com accounts, and have technology available to effectively compete in or judge rounds.

CATEGORIES

We will be offering all KHSSL JR & SR speech events. Please visit the Kentucky High School Speech League Handbook for event and scoring rules and guidelines.

DEBATE & CONGRESS INFO

We will be offering all KHSSL Varsity & Novice debate events. Please visit the Kentucky High School Speech League Handbook for event and scoring rules and guidelines.

• Congress: Schools may submit 1-3 bills (NSDA format/template). Bills must be sent to neomia.hagans@uky.edu by Friday, November 7 @8:00pm EST. Congress legislation will be posted on Sunday, November 9 by 8:00 pm.

• All PF and Varsity LD Debaters (novice and varsity) will debate using the November/December Varsity Topics. Novice LD Debaters will be using the Novice LD topic. PLD will be allowing its students to participate in debate competitions as judging and space allows. PLD students will not be eligible to earn sweepstakes points or earn team awards.

ENTRIES

Teams may have unlimited entries; however, only the top three scores in each event will count toward sweepstakes. Students may quad (4 events) in IE. Debaters (LD, PF, & Congress) may enter 1 debate event and 1 speech event. Due to time constraints, debaters (LD & PF) cannot enter extemp. All students are expected to be prompt and on-time for all rounds. No rounds including final rounds will be held for students who are excessively late (not arriving at the round in enough time to perform before the round ending time or more than 15 minutes late for LD &PF).

JUDGES ENTRY

Teams are required to provide 1 judge for every 6 entries into the competition. 6 entries = one judge, 7 entries = 2 judges, etc. Debate events must provide 1 judge for every 2 entries or fraction thereof. Schools must provide at least one judge in speech if their students are competing in speech events and 1 judge in debate events if their students are competing in debate. In the event you cannot provide the required number of judges, you may hire up to 2 judges for $30 each.

All judges should be familiar with KHSSL rules and ballots and are expected to be in the judge pool during rounds where they are not explicitly scheduled. ALL JUDGES MUST HAVE A TABROOM.COM ACCOUNT IN ORDER TO BE PLACED ON YOUR JUDGING ROSTER. All judges will be considered for all events and all rounds in the pool in which they are registered regardless of the age group in which your team represents (speech, debate, or congress). Some SR Speech rounds may utilize JR Speech judges and vice versa. All judges should be prepared for competition accordingly and are asked to be present at the judge roll call on Saturday morning.