Experience & Education
Carrollton HS Speech & Debate '08-'12.
CHS S&D (Assistant Coach) '12-'16.
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BS Political Science - University of West Georgia '16
Master of Public Policy - Georgia State University '20

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PF: I prefer that PF stays as close to it's original intent (in terms of the use of debate theory, jargon, etc.) as possible - i.e., I should be able to judge this round as a layperson with no prior knowledge of the high school debate space. If you're going to spend a considerable amount of time between speeches calling for cards please weigh every card you've asked for.

LD: I appreciate as much of a straightforward framework and/or case debate as you can give me.

My name is John Gollner, and I normally judge varsity PF, although I have judged LD, some speech events, and Policy in the past (some of it a long time ago).  I had debate experience as a student at Woodward Academy in the 60's, and the University of Georgia in the 70's, and have judged on and off when attending tournaments over the last 7 years or so while my sons have been High School policy debaters at Sequoyah HS in Canton, GA. My philosophy is simply to try and judge using the published guidelines from the National Speech and Debate Association, and when it comes to PF I expect debaters to present their arguments as if they were presenting to the public. I try to track the flows in writing as much as possible to make sure I'm not misled as to the performance of both teams.  I judge evidence on both how well it's tied in, and how relevant it is.  By way of explanation, a citation of a non-tenured professor of history at a small school when evaluating the legality of something in the topic will not carry the same weight in my decision as a US Supreme Court decision on the same topic.  I will answer any questions as openly as I can, but rarely disclose immediately because I review my notes thoroughly before making a final decision.