Golden Desert District Qualifier

for the 2024 National Tournament

Belonging & Inclusion Station

Coach Bañuelos is our Belonging and Inclusion Advocate.

If there is a violation of the NSDA Harassment and Discrimination Policy use the Problem Reporting Form to alert Coach Bañuelos.

Anyone may use the form to report a violation of the Harassment and Discrimination Policy. Only coaches/adult representatives may use the form to file a protest.

Hello, Tournament Attendees! (Coaches - please forward this information to your students)

My name is Laurents Bañuelos, and I am the coach at Rancho HS. The GDSDA is committed to providing a safer, more inclusive space for speech and debate competition. To that end, there will be a Belonging and Inclusion Station (BIS) located in 409 aimed at providing interpersonal support to anyone (student, judge, coach, etc.) who feels that an element of the tournament has excluded them. The BIS will also provide safeguards to any concerns about behavior that violates our harassment and discrimination policy. BIS is not about competition rule violations – all of those concerns can still be addressed with Coach Roos.

For this tournament, I will be serving as the Belonging and Inclusion Advocate. I am here to be a first point of contact for attendees (students, judges, coaches, etc.) requesting interpersonal support or with inquiries related to harassment and discrimination at the tournament. If you have a concern about your experience at this tournament, or you have witnessed behavior that is inconsistent with the NSDA Harassment and Discrimination Policy, please visit me in 409. We have a private space we can use to process your situation, feelings, and experiences.

You will be asked to fill out a form sharing your information and describing the concern (if it involves harassment/discrimination). You always have the option to discuss a concern informally and on a verbal basis with me – or on a more formal basis, depending on your experience and if it violates any policies and/or laws. The point is - I am here to listen and be a support for you.

Our goal is to make sure everyone has a safe space to compete and truly feel like they belong at this tournament and in our speech and debate community. If you have any questions about BIS or its process, please feel free to contact me or the tournament director, Coach Roos at goldendesertsda@gmail.com.

See you this weekend!